title: Effects of depression and ECT on anterograde memory.
abstract: This study investigated immediate and delayed recognition memory in depressed patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and in matched, normal controls. At baseline, patients manifested a marked deficit in immediate memory (acquisition), but showed no deficit in delayed memory (retention). When retested 24-36 hr following the seventh ECT, patients showed reductions in both immediate and delayed memory performance. At retesting 4 days, on average, after the ECT course, immediate memory scores returned to baseline levels, but delayed memory performance remained impaired. The findings supported the classic claims that depression is associated with a deficit in the acquisition of information, whereas ECT has a more profound influence on the retention of information. This dissociative pattern could not be viewed as an artifact of task psychometric properties, nor of practice effects in control subjects.
mesh_terms: D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011897:Random Allocation; D012153:Retention, Psychology