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Distinct memory impairments following electroconvulsive therapy and imipramine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Avraham Calev ,
Edna Ben-Tzvi ,
Baruch Shapira ,
Heinz Drexler ,
Refael Carasso  and
Bernard Lerer
Avraham Calev*
Affiliation:
Jerusalem Mental Health Center - Ezrat-Nashim Hospital, Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Edna Ben-Tzvi
Affiliation:
Jerusalem Mental Health Center - Ezrat-Nashim Hospital, Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Baruch Shapira
Affiliation:
Jerusalem Mental Health Center - Ezrat-Nashim Hospital, Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Heinz Drexler
Affiliation:
Jerusalem Mental Health Center - Ezrat-Nashim Hospital, Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Refael Carasso
Affiliation:
Jerusalem Mental Health Center - Ezrat-Nashim Hospital, Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Bernard Lerer
Affiliation:
Jerusalem Mental Health Center - Ezrat-Nashim Hospital, Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Avraham Calev, Jerusalem Mental Health Center-Ezrat Nashim, PO Box 140, Jerusalem, Israel
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Synopsis

Memory functioning was assessed in 26 unmedicated patients with major depressive disorder (DSM-III) who were then administered either bilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) (N = 16) or imipramine 200 mg per day (N = 10). The subjects were retested following seven ECT administrations or 21 days of imipramine treatment respectively. The retrograde memory tasks included recall of public and autobiographic events. The anterograde memory tasks included an immediate memory task, a verbal paired-associates recall task, and a non-verbal figure reproduction task. Depression was significantly improved in the ECT-treated subjects but not in those administered imipramine. Both ECT- and imipramine-treated patients showed a deficit in recent anterograde memory relative to their pretreatment performance, but no deficit in immediate memory. ECT-treated patients also had a significant and well-characterized impairment in retrograde remote memory. By contrast, imipramine-treated patients did not show a retrograde memory impairment which could be explained by treatment. The results suggest qualitatively different memory deficits produced by ECT and imipramine.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , February 1989 , pp. 111 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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