Psychological Changes Due to E.C.T. As Measured by a Battery of Tests Given Repeatedly

Abstract

The majority of investigations into psychological changes due to E.C.T. have been undertaken to assess the effect of treatment on the patient's memory. Sherman, Mergener and Levitin (1941), testing for retention of material assimilated on the same occasion as it had to be recalled or recognized, found no significant effect of E.C.T. upon memory. Zubin and Barrera (1941) found that E.C.T. removed the saving that would otherwise have occurred between learning and re-learning paired associates. They also reported that the effect of treatment on the recognition of material was less severe than on its recall, and this was confirmed by Mayer-Gross (1943).The present paper reports psychological changes which have been found to take place during a course of treatment with E.C.T. as well as before and after. The investigation is a development of a pilot experiment undertaken with Dr. M. Roth which was briefly reported at the International Congress of Psychiatry, Paris, 1950.