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"Focused electrical/magnetic brain stimulation has been proposed as a better approach to the mental health epidemic..." As this was my first thought and I'm no

"Focused electrical/magnetic brain stimulation has been proposed as a better approach to the mental health epidemic..." As this was my first thought and I'm not knowledgeable in neuroscience at all, how has this method evolved from the older "electroshock therapy" method?

neural_thing 8y ago
Precision. Compare a single missile from a drone to carpet bombing a city. Similar effectiveness in the mission, fewer side effects.
- TomMarius 8y ago
  What about reliability, backup?
aznpwnzor 8y ago
there was nothing inherently wrong with the older "electroshock therapy." in fact it worked quite often than you'd think. but obviously this we have more precise targeting and result metrics now. Also electroshock therapy ran at much higher currents, while current (hehe) thought is that milliamps as low as 2 over the scalp is enough for therapeutic effects. tho ofc there are those that disagree that 2 mA is enough to penetrate the skull.
- stochastic_monk 8y ago
  ECT, electroconvulsive therapy, actually is tremendously effective for refractory depression. I’ve known several individuals for whom it made all the difference. It comes with massive memory loss; this leads me to think that the antidepressant effects of NMDA antagonists, cannabis, and ECT are all mediated by memory modulation. To the point, it would be amazing if these benefits could be realized without nuking the brain.
  - meowface 8y ago
    I have no doubt ECT is very beneficial for many people with refractory depression, but I suspect the memory loss may be correlation and not causation. I think the memory loss might be unnecessary collateral damage, perhaps due to a lack of precision, and future ECT advances may reduce the memory loss while retaining the antidepressant effects. I'm also not aware of any research indicating that the antidepressant effects of cannabis or NMDA antagonists like ketamine are connected to memory. But I'm definitely no expert in either field.

neural_thing 8y ago

Precision. Compare a single missile from a drone to carpet bombing a city. Similar effectiveness in the mission, fewer side effects.

TomMarius 8y ago
What about reliability, backup?

aznpwnzor 8y ago

there was nothing inherently wrong with the older "electroshock therapy." in fact it worked quite often than you'd think. but obviously this we have more precise targeting and result metrics now. Also electroshock therapy ran at much higher currents, while current (hehe) thought is that milliamps as low as 2 over the scalp is enough for therapeutic effects. tho ofc there are those that disagree that 2 mA is enough to penetrate the skull.

stochastic_monk 8y ago
ECT, electroconvulsive therapy, actually is tremendously effective for refractory depression. I’ve known several individuals for whom it made all the difference. It comes with massive memory loss; this leads me to think that the antidepressant effects of NMDA antagonists, cannabis, and ECT are all mediated by memory modulation. To the point, it would be amazing if these benefits could be realized without nuking the brain.
- meowface 8y ago
  I have no doubt ECT is very beneficial for many people with refractory depression, but I suspect the memory loss may be correlation and not causation. I think the memory loss might be unnecessary collateral damage, perhaps due to a lack of precision, and future ECT advances may reduce the memory loss while retaining the antidepressant effects. I'm also not aware of any research indicating that the antidepressant effects of cannabis or NMDA antagonists like ketamine are connected to memory. But I'm definitely no expert in either field.