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Unilateral and Bilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Comparative Study

Unilateral and Bilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Comparative Study Abstract UNILATERAL convulsive therapy (ECT) is a technique in which a current is passed across the nondominant cerebral hemisphere, producing a generalized convulsion as a treatment modality. A lessened degree of memory disturbance is claimed as compared to the bilateral procedure. This research project was aimed at comparing the effect of the unilateral and bilateral procedures. A well-known psychiatrist who had received a course of bilateral ECT treatment wrote as follows: One of the most celebrated effects of ECT is the memory loss it induces. This can be alarming, as whole tracts of memory seem to be expunged without trace. Memory for recent events, during the week or so preceding treatment, appears to be the most severely affected. Memories for events of several years ago seem to be impaired hardly at all. This subjective report has been confirmed by the work of Cronholm and Molander,1 who References 1. Cronholm, B., and Molander, L.: Memory Disturbances After Electro-Convulsive Therapy , Acta Psychiat Scand 32:280, 1957.Crossref 2. Stone, C.P.: Characteristic Losses and Gains in Scores on the Wechsler Memory Scale as Applied to Psychotic Patients Before, During, and After a Series of Electroconvulsive Shocks , Amer Psychol 1:54, 1946. 3. Brengelmann, J.C.: The Effect of Repeated Electric Shocks on Learning in Depressions , Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1959. 4. Ottosson, J.: Effect of Lidocaine on the Seizure Discharge in Electro-Convulsive Therapy , Acta Psychiat Scand ( (suppl) ) 145, 1960. 5. Ottosson, J.: Seizure Characteristics and Therapeutic Efficiency in Electroconvulsive Therapy: An Analysis of Antidepressive Efficiency of Grand Mal and Lidocaine-Modified Seizures , J Nerv Ment Dis 135:239, 1962.Crossref 6. Lancaster, N.; Steinert, R.; and Frost, I.: Unilateral Electro-Convulsive Therapy , J Ment Sci 104:221, 1958. 7. Cannicott, S.M.: Unilateral Electro-Convulsive Therapy , Postgrad Med J 38:451, 1962.Crossref 8. Pacella, B.L., and Barrera, S.E.: Some Considerations of the Electroencephalogram in the "Convulsive State" (Electrically Induced Seizures) , J Nerv Ment Dis 96:125, 1942.Crossref 9. Goldstein, K.: " Methodological Approach to the Study of Schizophrenic Thought Disorder ," in Kasanin, J.S. (ed.): Language and Thought in Schizophrenia , Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, 1944, pp 17-40. 10. Rapaport, D.; Schafer, R.; and Merton, G.: The Manual of Diagnostic Psychological Testing , New York: Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation Review Series, 1946, vol 3, No. 1, p 275. 11. Martin, W.L., et al: Clinical Evaluation of Unilateral EST , Amer J Psychiat 121:1087, 1965. 12. Zamora, E.N., and Kaelbling, R.: Memory and Electroconvulsive Therapy , Amer J Psychiat 122:546 ( (Nov) ) 1965. 13. Penfield, W., and Roberts, L.: Speech and Brain-Mechanisms , Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1959. 14. Young, J.Z.: Model of the Brain , New York: Oxford University Press, 1964. 15. Morrell, F.: " Electrochemical Mechanisms and Information Storage in Nerve Cells ," in Schmitt, F.O. (ed.): Macromolecular Specificity and Biological Memory , Cambridge, Mass: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1962. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of General Psychiatry American Medical Association

Unilateral and Bilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Comparative Study

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References (15)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1967 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0003-990X
eISSN
1598-3636
DOI
10.1001/archpsyc.1967.01730200097013
Publisher site
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Abstract

Abstract UNILATERAL convulsive therapy (ECT) is a technique in which a current is passed across the nondominant cerebral hemisphere, producing a generalized convulsion as a treatment modality. A lessened degree of memory disturbance is claimed as compared to the bilateral procedure. This research project was aimed at comparing the effect of the unilateral and bilateral procedures. A well-known psychiatrist who had received a course of bilateral ECT treatment wrote as follows: One of the most celebrated effects of ECT is the memory loss it induces. This can be alarming, as whole tracts of memory seem to be expunged without trace. Memory for recent events, during the week or so preceding treatment, appears to be the most severely affected. Memories for events of several years ago seem to be impaired hardly at all. This subjective report has been confirmed by the work of Cronholm and Molander,1 who References 1. Cronholm, B., and Molander, L.: Memory Disturbances After Electro-Convulsive Therapy , Acta Psychiat Scand 32:280, 1957.Crossref 2. Stone, C.P.: Characteristic Losses and Gains in Scores on the Wechsler Memory Scale as Applied to Psychotic Patients Before, During, and After a Series of Electroconvulsive Shocks , Amer Psychol 1:54, 1946. 3. Brengelmann, J.C.: The Effect of Repeated Electric Shocks on Learning in Depressions , Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1959. 4. Ottosson, J.: Effect of Lidocaine on the Seizure Discharge in Electro-Convulsive Therapy , Acta Psychiat Scand ( (suppl) ) 145, 1960. 5. Ottosson, J.: Seizure Characteristics and Therapeutic Efficiency in Electroconvulsive Therapy: An Analysis of Antidepressive Efficiency of Grand Mal and Lidocaine-Modified Seizures , J Nerv Ment Dis 135:239, 1962.Crossref 6. Lancaster, N.; Steinert, R.; and Frost, I.: Unilateral Electro-Convulsive Therapy , J Ment Sci 104:221, 1958. 7. Cannicott, S.M.: Unilateral Electro-Convulsive Therapy , Postgrad Med J 38:451, 1962.Crossref 8. Pacella, B.L., and Barrera, S.E.: Some Considerations of the Electroencephalogram in the "Convulsive State" (Electrically Induced Seizures) , J Nerv Ment Dis 96:125, 1942.Crossref 9. Goldstein, K.: " Methodological Approach to the Study of Schizophrenic Thought Disorder ," in Kasanin, J.S. (ed.): Language and Thought in Schizophrenia , Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press, 1944, pp 17-40. 10. Rapaport, D.; Schafer, R.; and Merton, G.: The Manual of Diagnostic Psychological Testing , New York: Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation Review Series, 1946, vol 3, No. 1, p 275. 11. Martin, W.L., et al: Clinical Evaluation of Unilateral EST , Amer J Psychiat 121:1087, 1965. 12. Zamora, E.N., and Kaelbling, R.: Memory and Electroconvulsive Therapy , Amer J Psychiat 122:546 ( (Nov) ) 1965. 13. Penfield, W., and Roberts, L.: Speech and Brain-Mechanisms , Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1959. 14. Young, J.Z.: Model of the Brain , New York: Oxford University Press, 1964. 15. Morrell, F.: " Electrochemical Mechanisms and Information Storage in Nerve Cells ," in Schmitt, F.O. (ed.): Macromolecular Specificity and Biological Memory , Cambridge, Mass: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1962.

Journal

Archives of General Psychiatry – American Medical Association

Published: Feb 1, 1967

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