Electroconvulsive therapy related autobiographical amnesia: a review and case report.

While short-term cognitive impairment following electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is well described and acknowledged, the relationship between ECT and persistent memory impairment, particularly of autobiographical memory, has been controversial. We describe the case of a 70-year-old consultant neurophysiologist, AW, who developed prominent, selective autobiographical memory loss following two courses of ECT for treatment-resistant depression. His performance on standard measures of IQ, semantic and episodic memory, executive function and mood was normal, while he performed significantly below controls on measures of episodic autobiographical memory.