Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39567961›Full record

Observational studyBMC psychiatry2024

Improvement of persistent impairments in executive functions and attention following electroconvulsive therapy in a case control longitudinal follow up study.

Åsa Hammar, Eivind Haga Ronold, Malene Alden Spurkeland, Rita Ueland, Ute Kessler, Ketil J Oedegaard, Leif Oltedal

Registry-linked trialAbstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC psychiatry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04348825 (Effects of ECT in Treatment of Major Depression), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04348825 completednot on this map

Effects of ECT in Treatment of Major Depression: A Prospective Neuroradiological Study of Acute and Longitudinal Effects on Brain Structure and Function

TypeobservationalSponsorHaukeland University HospitalRan2013 to 2018Enrolled80ConditionsDepression, Electroconvulsive TherapyArmsElectroconvulsive therapy
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Cognition in Treatment-Resistant Depression: Obstacles and Challenges?Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Åsa Hammar *Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Alrek helseklynge Årstadveien 17, Bergen, 5020, Norway.
Eivind Haga Ronold *Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Alrek helseklynge Årstadveien 17, Bergen, 5020, Norway. ero052@uib.no.
Malene Alden SpurkelandDepartment of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Alrek helseklynge Årstadveien 17, Bergen, 5020, Norway.
Rita UelandDepartment of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Alrek helseklynge Årstadveien 17, Bergen, 5020, Norway.
Ute KesslerDepartment of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Ketil J OedegaardDivision of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Leif OltedalDepartment of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHow cognition is influenced by electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) and major depressive disorder (MDD) is still debated. The development and etiology of neurocognitive impairment in MDD were examined by investigating the cognitive profile following ECT related to the state, scar, and trait perspectives, with the former predicting improvements parallel with depressive symptoms, while the two latter expected persisting impairments. Executive functions (EF) and attention are central to cognition and alterations in these functions could influence other domains like memory. The main aims of the present study were to examine the short and long-term effects of ECT on EF and attention in patients with major depressive disorder by exploiting the rapid antidepressant effect of this treatment.

methodsA case-control longitudinal follow-up design was used to investigate the effects of unilateral brief-pulse ECT on EF and attention in patients with depression (n = 36) compared to untreated healthy controls (n = 16). EF and attention were measured pre-treatment, approximately two weeks, and six months post-treatment.

resultsThe patient group showed significantly worse performance on most tests compared to healthy controls pre-treatment, and no short- or long-term worsening of EF and attention following ECT was found. Significant improvement was identified in patients' attention, processing speed and inhibition after ECT.

conclusionsThe present study showed that there was no cognitive worsening after ECT treatment. An improvement in several of the tests measuring inhibition, attention, and processing speed was parallel to symptom reduction, with the former showing associations to symptom change, suggesting state-related effects from improved mood. Still, the patient group performed significantly worse on most measures both pre-treatment and at the short and long-term follow-ups, indicating prevailing trait or scar effects on cognitive functions and potential lack of practice effects. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: NCT04348825 (14.04.20).

Indexed as

AttentionElectroconvulsive TherapyExecutive FunctionMajor Depressive DisorderAdultCase-Control StudiesCognitive DysfunctionFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsTreatment OutcomeAttentionECTExecutive functionIatrogenic effectsLongitudinalMajor depressive disorderProcessing speedShort- long-term effectsTreatment-resistant depression

Identifiers

PMID39567961
PMCPMC11577909

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.