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Review
. 2023 Jun 9:14:1170625.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1170625. eCollection 2023.

Neuroimaging study of electroconvulsive therapy for depression

Xiaolu Chen  1 , Hanjie Yang  2 , Long-Biao Cui  3   4 , Xiao Li  5
Affiliations
Review

Neuroimaging study of electroconvulsive therapy for depression

Xiaolu Chen et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an important treatment for depression. Although it is known as the most effective acute treatment for severe mood disorders, its therapeutic mechanism is still unclear. With the rapid development of neuroimaging technology, various neuroimaging techniques have been available to explore the alterations of the brain by ECT, such as structural magnetic resonance imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, arterial spin labeling, etc. This article reviews studies in neuroimaging on ECT for depression. These findings suggest that the neurobiological mechanism of ECT may regulate the brain functional activity, and neural structural plasticity, as well as balance the brain's neurotransmitters, which finally achieves a therapeutic effect.

Keywords: arterial spin labeling; depression; electroconvulsive therapy; magnetic resonance imaging; mechanism; positron emission tomography.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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