ArticleBrain stimulation
Biophysical mechanisms of electroconvulsive therapy-induced volume expansion in the medial temporal lobe: A longitudinal in vivo human imaging study.
Article in Brain stimulation. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Electroconvulsive therapy, electric field, neuroplasticity, and clinical outcomes.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Brain morphometry, stimulation charge, and seizure duration in electroconvulsive therapy.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Clinical and biological markers of electroconvulsive therapy effectiveness: a narrative review.Translational psychiatry · 2026Review
- Effects of electroconvulsive therapy on hippocampal longitudinal axis and its association with cognitive side effects.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Multilevel Neuroimaging Insights Into Electroconvulsive Therapy Mechanisms in Clozapine-Refractory Schizophrenia: A Comparative Perspective With Depression.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Electroconvulsive therapy-specific volume changes in nuclei of the amygdala and their relationship to long-term anxiety improvement in depression.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Observational
- On assumptions and key issues in electric field modeling for ECT.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Article
- Neurogenesis-independent mechanisms of MRI-detectable hippocampal volume increase following electroconvulsive stimulation.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Electroconvulsive therapy-induced volumetric brain changes converge on a common causal circuit in depression.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Article
- How electroconvulsive therapy works in the treatment of depression: is it the seizure, the electricity, or both?Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Review
- Electroconvulsive therapy-induced volumetric brain changes converge on a common causal circuit in depression.Research square · 2023Article
- Parsing the Network Mechanisms of Electroconvulsive Therapy.Biological psychiatry · 2022Review
- Neural Substrates of Psychotic Depression: Findings From the Global ECT-MRI Research Collaboration.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundElectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) applies electric currents to the brain to induce seizures for therapeutic purposes. ECT increases gray matter (GM) volume, predominantly in the medial temporal lobe (MTL). The contribution of induced seizures to this volume change remains unclear.
methodsT1-weighted structural MRI was acquired from thirty patients with late-life depression (mean age 72.5 ± 7.9 years, 19 female), before and one week after one course of right unilateral ECT. Whole brain voxel-/deformation-/surface-based morphometry analyses were conducted to identify tissue-specific (GM, white matter: WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and cerebral morphometry changes following ECT. Whole-brain voxel-wise electric field (EF) strength was estimated to investigate the association of EF distribution and regional brain volume change. The association between percentage volume change in the right MTL and ECT-related parameters (seizure duration, EF, and number of ECT sessions) was investigated using multiple regression.
resultsECT induced widespread GM volume expansion with corresponding contraction in adjacent CSF compartments, and limited WM change. The regional EF was strongly correlated with the distance from the electrodes, but not with regional volume change. The largest volume expansion was identified in the right MTL, and this was correlated with the total seizure duration.
conclusionsRight unilateral ECT induces widespread, bilateral regional volume expansion and contraction, with the largest change in the right MTL. This dynamic volume change cannot be explained by the effect of electrical stimulation alone and is related to the cumulative effect of ECT-induced seizures.
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