title: Effects of electroconvulsive therapy on EEG and cerebral blood flow in depression.
abstract: Changes in global EEG and global cerebral blood flow (CBF) and their relationship following electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) were studied in 21 depressed in-patients, examined before and after treatment during an ECT series and at follow-up. Two patterns of ECT action could be discerned: acute changes related to single ECT's. The effects on CBF were more marked at the beginning of the ECT series, while the EEG slowing became more pronounced towards the end; non-acute accumulating ECT effects which were insignificant for CBF, whereas the EEG slowing increased progressively during the ECT series. Thus acute and non-acute effects of ECT on EEG and CBF follow different patterns indicating independent seizure effects. They showed a different time course and few correlations were found, suggesting that CBF is more linked to cortical changes while EEG is probably more related to activity in deeper, subcortical structures.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged