Cognitive Training for Memory Deficits Associated With Electroconvulsive Therapy

Overview

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.

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.