Serum neurofilament light chain (NFL) remains unchanged during electroconvulsive therapy.

Although there is consistent evidence that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is safe and well tolerated by the majority of patients, some authors still accuse ECT to inevitably cause brain damage and permanent memory loss, assertions that may increase patients' worries about a useful treatment. Recently, the measurement of neurofilament light chain (NFL) in peripheral blood was technically implemented, permitting longitudinal analysis of this biomarker for axonal damage. NFL is part of the axonal cytoskeleton and is released into the CSF and peripheral blood in the context of neuronal damage.

Overlooking the obvious? Influence of electrolyte concentrations on seizure quality parameters in electroconvulsive therapy.

Clinical response to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) depends on eliciting a generalized seizure. Though there are multiple ictal and other parameters to assess seizure quality, factors that influence these parameters have only been identified to a limited extend in antecedent studies (e.g.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation as a Treatment for Catatonia: A Hypothesis.

Catatonia is a syndrome comprising psychomotor, behavioral, and autonomous symptoms which may occur in the context of severe schizophrenic, affective, and other mental disorders or medical conditions. Treatment options include high dose benzodiazepines (lorazepam) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with some evidence for the effectiveness of glutamate antagonists. However, due to a lack of randomized controlled studies in this severely ill population, evidence base is weak.

Electroconvulsive Therapy in Incapable Patients Refusing Treatment: Prevalence, Effectiveness, and Associated Factors.

Objectives: Severe psychiatric disorders may be accompanied by life-threatening conditions, lack of insight, and treatment refusal. Involuntary treatment may be indicated in patients who lack capacity to consent and refuse treatment. In this context, there is a lack of systematic data regarding the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Germany.

Electroconvulsive therapy induced gray matter increase is not necessarily correlated with clinical data in depressed patients.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and depression have been associated with brain volume changes, especially in the hippocampus and the amygdala.

Methods: In this retrospective study we collected data from individual pre-post ECT whole brain magnetic resonance imaging scans of depressed patients from six German university hospitals. Gray matter volume (GMV) changes were quantified via voxel-based morphometry in a total sample of 92 patients with major depressive episodes (MDE).

Factors Influencing Staff's Attitude Toward Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Comparison of New Versus Experienced Electroconvulsive Therapy Clinics.

Objectives: Despite being a highly effective treatment, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is still stigmatized even among professionals. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with a positive attitude toward ECT among health care workers.

Methods: We investigated staff's attitude and their self-assessment of knowledge while introducing ECT in 3 German psychiatric clinics.

Cortical Brain Abnormalities in 4474 Individuals With Schizophrenia and 5098 Control Subjects via the Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics Through Meta Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium.

Background: The profile of cortical neuroanatomical abnormalities in schizophrenia is not fully understood, despite hundreds of published structural brain imaging studies. This study presents the first meta-analysis of cortical thickness and surface area abnormalities in schizophrenia conducted by the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) Schizophrenia Working Group.

Methods: The study included data from 4474 individuals with schizophrenia (mean age, 32.

Influence of depressed patients' expectations prior to electroconvulsive therapy on its effectiveness and tolerability (Exp-ECT): a prospective study.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective therapy for severe depressive disorders. Though there are known clinical predictors of response (e.g.

Electroconvulsive therapy against the patients' will: A case series.

Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective therapy for severe depressive and psychotic disorders. As patients may be subject to legal incapacity and lack of insight, treatment may be administered against the patient's will. There is only limited evidence on the use of ECT against the patient's non-autonomous will.

Gender Differences in Verbal and Visuospatial Working Memory Performance and Networks.

Background: Working memory (WM) has been a matter of intensive basic and clinical research for some decades now. The investigation of WM function and dysfunction may facilitate the understanding of both physiological and pathological processes in the human brain. Though WM paradigms are widely used in neuroscientific and psychiatric research, conclusive knowledge about potential moderating variables such as gender is still missing.

Disturbed anterior prefrontal control of the mesolimbic reward system and increased impulsivity in bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by recurrent mood episodes ranging from severe depression to acute full-blown mania. Both states of this severe psychiatric disorder have been associated with alterations of reward processing in the brain. Here, we present results of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study on the neural correlates and functional interactions underlying reward gain processing and reward dismissal in favor of a long-term goal in bipolar patients.

Development of schizoaffective psychosis in the course of a long-term occupation as spiritual healer: coincidence or causality?

Psychotic reactions in the context of meditation and esoteric practices have been described in the psychiatric literature. In most cases, these psychotic conditions are transient and do not lead to functional impairment. The authors present the case of a 46-year-old woman who had worked as a spiritual healer for several years and, in the course of this occupation, increasingly developed a highly specific configuration of psychotic symptoms (all of which could be convincingly traced back to the formerly used spiritual techniques) along with depressive symptoms and severe functional impairment.

The ENIGMA Consortium: large-scale collaborative analyses of neuroimaging and genetic data.

The Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium is a collaborative network of researchers working together on a range of large-scale studies that integrate data from 70 institutions worldwide. Organized into Working Groups that tackle questions in neuroscience, genetics, and medicine, ENIGMA studies have analyzed neuroimaging data from over 12,826 subjects. In addition, data from 12,171 individuals were provided by the CHARGE consortium for replication of findings, in a total of 24,997 subjects.

Genetic polymorphisms of 5-HTT and DAT but not COMT differentially affect verbal and visuospatial working memory functioning.

Working memory deficits are found in different psychiatric populations and are most pronounced in schizophrenia. There is preliminary evidence from pharmacological studies that the verbal and visuospatial subcomponents of working memory are subject to differential neurotransmitter modulation. Here, we investigated the impact of well-known polymorphisms of the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3, DAT) and the catechol-O-methyl-transferase gene (COMT) as well as the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4, 5-HTT) on these specific working memory subcomponents in a mixed sample of patients and healthy individuals.

Differential working memory performance as support for the Kraepelinian dichotomy between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder? An experimental neuropsychological study using circuit-specific working memory tasks.

Objectives: The traditional clinical dichotomy of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder has been challenged by recent findings of an at least in part common genetic basis. The investigation of neurocognitive functions like working memory may thereby contribute to elucidate common versus distinct pathophysiological processes of the major psychoses. To date direct comparisons of working memory functioning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have been rare and moreover have revealed inconsistent findings.

A systematic experimental neuropsychological investigation of the functional integrity of working memory circuits in major depression.

Verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) impairment is a well-documented finding in psychiatric patients suffering from major psychoses such as schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder. However, in major depression (MDD) the literature on the presence and the extent of WM deficits is inconsistent. The use of a multitude of different WM tasks most of which lack process-specificity may have contributed to these inconsistencies.

Patients with schizophrenia show deficits of working memory maintenance components in circuit-specific tasks.

Working memory (WM) deficits are a neuropsychological core finding in patients with schizophrenia and also supposed to be a potential endophenotype of schizophrenia. Yet, there is a large heterogeneity between different WM tasks which is partly due to the lack of process specificity of the tasks applied. Therefore, we investigated WM functioning in patients with schizophrenia using process- and circuit-specific tasks.

Diagnosis-specific effect of familial loading on verbal working memory in schizophrenia.

Background: Working memory disturbances are a frequently replicated finding in schizophrenia and less consistent also in schizoaffective disorder. Working memory dysfunctions have been shown to be heritable and have been proposed to represent a promising endophenotype of schizophrenic psychoses.

Methods: In the present study, we investigated the effects of familial loading on performance rates in circuit-specific verbal and visuospatial working memory tasks in matched samples of schizophrenic patients (from multiply affected or uniaffected families), schizoaffective patients (from multiply affected or uniaffected families), and healthy subjects.