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Amnesia Associated with Electroconvulsive Therapy

Progress in Pharmacological Prevention and Treatment

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Summary

Pharmacological treatments have been used in an attempt to improve the memory dysfunction induced by electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Despite promising results from animal studies, human studies report few successes. Piracetam and physostigmine have been reported to directly improve memory test scores. The use of caffeine and liothyronine (triiodothyronine; T3) has been reported to reduce the number of ECT treatments required to produce a therapeutic effect, thus indirectly reducing memory deficits. However, the majority of studies on pharmacological treatments report no success.

Some studies suggest that reducing the dosage of medications regularly administered with ECT may reduce memory deficits. However, reducing these medications may not be fruitful as they are necessary to prevent the medical risks associated with ECT. Moreover, at the dosages used during ECT, these medications have not been consistently shown to adversely affect cognition.

At present, better controlled studies are required to assist in the search for effective pharmaceutical agents to reduce the cognitive deficits associated with ECT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, HSC T12-020, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, 11794-8121, USA

    Dean A. Pollina

  2. Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Avraham Calev

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  1. Dean A. Pollina
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  2. Avraham Calev
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Pollina, D.A., Calev, A. Amnesia Associated with Electroconvulsive Therapy. CNS Drugs 7, 381–387 (1997). https://doi.org/10.2165/00023210-199707050-00005

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