Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

Although electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains the most effective treatment for people with severe depression, patients may experience a significant degree of persistent and/or permanent memory problems following ECT. Many patients report the memory problems are the most disturbing and serious side effect of ECT, and that such effects impact their quality of life following treatment and their willingness to consent to further ECT needed to complete a treatment course or to maintain remission. New developments in the field of cognitive remediation have demonstrated the benefits of cognitive training to improve memory performance in various conditions, such as epilepsy. However, these strategies have never been applied to help patients regain memory after ECT. The investigators have designed and piloted a novel cognitive program specifically targeted to the cognitive effects of ECT, based upon a program tailored to people with seizure disorders, a group with memory problems very similar to people who undergo ECT. This Memory Training for ECT (Mem-ECT) is designed to help cognitive functions that may be compromised following ECT remain relatively preserved. In addition, the intervention attempts to help ECT patients quickly regain their general memory skills immediately following ECT. Recent results from our preliminary group of patients who underwent ECT and memory training at New York Presbyterian shows no overall decline in memory function following ECT. On the basis of these promising findings, the investigators propose a more rigorous and larger study to confirm whether this novel memory training program can help alleviate memory problems associated with ECT.


Clinical Trial Description

The investigators propose to enroll 60 patients scheduled to undergo ECT over the course of 3 years. They will be randomly assigned to one of three research conditions (a) participants in Mem-ECT condition will receive memory training before and after their ECT course, (b) participants in the active control condition will work on commercially available puzzle games at the same times prior and after ECT to determine if the developed memory training program is more effective than mere mental stimulation, (c) participants in the "treatment as usual" will not work on the memory training or the puzzle games but just undergo the study evaluations. Participants will be evaluated a few days before ECT, within 2 weeks following ECT, and once again 2 months later. The evaluation will consist of interviews, mental skill testing, and measuring brain waves using an electroencephalograph (EEG) before ECT and 2 months after ECT (no EEG right after ECT). It is our hope that developing a safe and effective strategy to minimize the adverse memory side effects of ECT will make ECT a better and more easily tolerated treatment for patients with severe depression who need this therapeutic option. ;


Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT01876758
Study type Interventional
Source New York State Psychiatric Institute
Contact
Status Completed
Phase N/A
Start date September 2012
Completion date May 2017

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Completed NCT04348825 - Electroconvulsive Therapy and Neuroradiology
Enrolling by invitation NCT05515159 - Blood Biomarkers in Electroconvulsive Therapy
Completed NCT04022226 - EEG Characteristics in ECT Early Phase 1
Recruiting NCT05889234 - Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging-based Study of Electroconvulsive Efficacy Prediction in Adolescents With Depression: a Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study
Recruiting NCT04291196 - Virtual Reality to Reduce Pre-procedure Anxiety Prior ECT N/A
Recruiting NCT04160286 - The Danish Neuropsychological Study of the Adverse Effects of ECT
Terminated NCT04383509 - Electroconvulsive Treatment Followed by Cognitive Control Training N/A
Completed NCT05683028 - RCT for Electroconvulsive Treatment Followed by Cognitive Control Training N/A
Completed NCT05633368 - Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Patients Receiving Continuation or Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy
Completed NCT03359395 - Pre-medication With Alfentanil vs Placebo During ECT Phase 4
Recruiting NCT05900245 - Anesthesia Induction Schemes of Electroconvulsive Convulsions in Patients With Depression Based on EEG Monitoring N/A
Recruiting NCT03542903 - ECT in Ultra-resistant Schizophrenia N/A
Completed NCT02819375 - Comparison of Propofol, Propofol-remifentanil and Propofol-ketamine Anesthesia During Electroconvulsive Therapy Phase 4
Not yet recruiting NCT02305394 - Effect of Subanesthetic Dose of Ketamine Combined With Propofol on Cognitive Function in Depressive Patients Undergoing Electroconvulsive Therapy Phase 4
Completed NCT02394847 - Does Repetitive Electroconvulsive Therapies Affect Propofol Induction Dose ? N/A
Recruiting NCT06109480 - Effect of HD-tDCS Assisted ECT for Depression Disorder N/A
Completed NCT05408000 - Comparision of Motor Seizure Duration of Ketofol and Propofol for Electroconvulsive Therapy N/A
Completed NCT01870219 - Effects of Sevoflurane and Ketamine on QT in Electroconvulsive Therapy Phase 4
Completed NCT04028596 - Measuring Blood Flow in the Brain After Epileptic Activity Phase 2
Completed NCT03113968 - ELEKT-D: Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) vs. Ketamine in Patients With Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) Phase 2/Phase 3