Scientists have finally discovered how one of psychiatry's most controversial treatments can help patients with severe depression.Researchers at Aberdeen University have discovered that ECT - or electro-convulsive therapy - affects the way different parts of the brain involved in depression 'communicate' with each other.
They found that the treatment appears to 'turn down' an overactive connection between areas of the brain that control mood and the parts responsible for thinking and concentrating.
This stops the overwhelming impact that depression has on sufferers' ability to enjoy normal life and carry on with day-to-day activities.
This decrease in connectivity observed after ECT treatment was accompanied by a significant improvement in the patient's depressive symptoms.
The ECT treatment, which is 75-years-old, involves an electric shock being passed through the cortex of a severely-depressed patient to 'cure' them. Read More
