Movement, mood and cognition: Preliminary insights into the therapeutic effects of electroconvulsive therapy for depression through a resting-state connectivity analysis.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly effective treatment for depression but how it achieves its clinical effects remains unclear.

Methods: We set out to study the brain's response to ECT from a large-scale brain-network perspective. Using a voxelwise analysis, we looked at resting-state functional connectivity before and after a course of ECT at the whole-brain and the between- and within-network levels in 17 patients with a depressive episode.

Inflammatory Markers May Inform the Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy on Cognition in Patients with Depression.

Introduction: The neurobiological mechanisms underlying the acute cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remain poorly understood. Prior research has shown that proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, IL1-β, and IL-10 may interfere with cognitive functioning. Interestingly, immunomodulation is one of the proposed modes of action of ECT.

Improvement of psychomotor retardation after electroconvulsive therapy is related to decreased IL-6 levels.

Background: Prior studies suggest that IL-6 may be involved in the pathophysiology of psychomotor symptoms in depression. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as yet the most effective biological treatment of severe depression, is known to improve psychomotor functioning, while recent studies have shown a decrease in the elevated IL-6 levels of depressed patients following ECT.

Objectives: This study investigates whether the improvement in psychomotor functions in patients with depression after ECT is related to changes in IL-6 levels.

Inflammation, Hippocampal Volume, and Therapeutic Outcome following Electroconvulsive Therapy in Depressive Patients: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) influences the concentration of peripheral inflammatory markers, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). In which way this immune effect contributes to the impact of ECT on the central nervous system in depression remains unknown.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine whether the hippocampal volumetric increase in depressed patients treated with ECT is related to changes in peripheral IL-6 and TNF-α levels.

The basal ganglia: A central hub for the psychomotor effects of electroconvulsive therapy.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective biological treatment for depression. Aside the well-known therapeutic effect on mood symptoms, it has also a unique positive impact on psychomotor agitation and retardation, which are core symptoms of depression. The neurobiology behind these effects, however, remains unclear.

Imbalance between abstract and concrete repetitive thinking modes in schizophrenia.

Objective: Repetitive thoughts can be divided in two modes: abstract/analytic (decontextualized and dysfunctional) and concrete/experiential (problem-focused and adaptive). They constitute a transdiagnostic process involved in many psychopathological states but have received little attention in schizophrenia, as earlier studies only indexed increased ruminations (related to dysfunctional repetitive thoughts) without jointly exploring both modes. This study explored the two repetitive thinking modes, beyond ruminations, to determine their imbalance in schizophrenia.

Facial decoding in schizophrenia is underpinned by basic visual processing impairments.

Schizophrenia is associated with a strong deficit in the decoding of emotional facial expression (EFE). Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether this deficit is specific for emotions or due to a more general impairment for any type of facial processing. This study was designed to clarify this issue.