Comparison of fronto-frontal and temporo-parietal unilateral non-dominant ECT. A retrograde memory study.
An intraindividual, double blind cross-over comparison of the retrograde effect on memory of unilateral non-dominant fronto-frontal (FF) and temporo-parietal (TP) ECT was performed in connection with the second and third treatments of ECT-series. Treatment technique was standardized and seizure duration was measured by means of EEG. Memory functions were examined 1 hour before and 2 hours after ECT with four tests. The influence on forgetting over this time was taken as a measure of the memory disturbance. There were no differences between FF and TP ECT as regards the amount of methohexital and suxamethonium chloride, mean time of stimulation and seizure duration. The influence of forgetting was similar in all memory tests. The result is in agreement with a previous anterograde study. It is concluded that no essential gain in terms of reduced memory disturbance can be obtained by substituting the routine non-dominant temporo-parietal with fronto-frontal electrode positions.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology