11 ms·

I hate to be a skeptic, but a sample size of 15 people is far from conclusive. And just when I thought electric shock therapy was almost dead...

beejiu 13y ago
The sample size was 55. 15 showed sign of response. I don't know the probabilities, but that's probably greater than the probability of response without treatment, with statistical significance. Obviously, you'd have to know the exact details to gauge its significance -- I'm sure those will be in the paper.
- asfapifb 13y ago
  It depends on what the prior probability of them waking up without intervention was as to its significance. Statistical significance is a function of both frequency of effect and magnitude of effect.
frandroid 13y ago
It's not dead, and it won't die. It's used more discriminately now, especially in the case of deeply depressed people, with good results.
Cushman 13y ago
Just so we're clear: when you say "electric shock therapy" you're talking about electroconvulsive therapy, which uses a strong shock to induce a seizure (under anaesthesia). It's actually the seizure itself which is therapeutic, which should give you an idea of the severity of the conditions it's used to treat: ECT is a last-resort treatment which can be lifesaving for severe depression, schizophrenia, or catatonia which are unresponsive to medication. There are less extreme alternatives being studied, but as of today ECT is still the magic bullet in some severe cases. Anyway, this article is not about ECT, but transcranial direct current stimulation. tCDS is a completely different concept that uses much lower voltage, applied continuously in the direction of neuron activation, to promote activity and possibly growth. It's been used by healthy individuals to try to boost cognition, and it's certainly exciting to hear it may have real therapeutic indications as well.

beejiu 13y ago

The sample size was 55. 15 showed sign of response. I don't know the probabilities, but that's probably greater than the probability of response without treatment, with statistical significance. Obviously, you'd have to know the exact details to gauge its significance -- I'm sure those will be in the paper.

asfapifb 13y ago
It depends on what the prior probability of them waking up without intervention was as to its significance. Statistical significance is a function of both frequency of effect and magnitude of effect.

frandroid 13y ago

It's not dead, and it won't die. It's used more discriminately now, especially in the case of deeply depressed people, with good results.

Cushman 13y ago

Just so we're clear: when you say "electric shock therapy" you're talking about electroconvulsive therapy, which uses a strong shock to induce a seizure (under anaesthesia). It's actually the seizure itself which is therapeutic, which should give you an idea of the severity of the conditions it's used to treat: ECT is a last-resort treatment which can be lifesaving for severe depression, schizophrenia, or catatonia which are unresponsive to medication. There are less extreme alternatives being studied, but as of today ECT is still the magic bullet in some severe cases. Anyway, this article is not about ECT, but transcranial direct current stimulation. tCDS is a completely different concept that uses much lower voltage, applied continuously in the direction of neuron activation, to promote activity and possibly growth. It's been used by healthy individuals to try to boost cognition, and it's certainly exciting to hear it may have real therapeutic indications as well.