We appreciate the contributions of Yu-Juan Ping from the Zhenzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. I-BET151 mw Finally, we appreciate the assistance of Alison E. Rollins from the USUHS James A. Zimble Learning Resources Center.
Convulsive interventions have been used to treat mental disorders since the 16th century and even today in the form of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Ugo Cerletti and Luigi Bini demonstrated ECT in Rome for the first time in 1938 (Cerletti and Bini 1938). The ECT intervention per se, that is, the application of electrical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical current to the scalp in order to provoke a generalized epileptic seizure, for the purpose of alleviating psychotic and depressive symptoms, is still much the same today as it was in the beginning. Modifications of Cerletti and Bini’s original bitemporal placement of electrodes to the scalp, administering 120 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical V sine-wave electrical current to the head (Cerletti and Bini 1938), include the development of newer brief-pulse electrical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical current wave devices and unilateral (UL) placement of electrodes. ECT was originally used in the treatment of schizophrenia. ECTs effectiveness for patients with depression

was established in 1941 (Hemphill and Walter 1941). The use of ECT declined in the 1970s and 1980s after the introduction of pharmacotherapy for

severe mental disorders (McCall 2001). The main indication for ECT also transformed from first-line to last-resort treatment for medication-resistant and very severe life-threatening clinical conditions (McCall 2001; Eranti and McLoughlin 2003). Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical However, in 2001, guidelines developed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) advised that ECT should not only be used as a last resort (American Psychiatric Association 2001). Situations of increased risk that need special attention are mentioned by international guidelines, such as patients with disorders of the central nervous system, cardiovascular Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and respiratory also system (American Psychiatric Association 2001; Royal College of Psychiatrists 2005; Enns et al. 2010). As a result of cognitive side effects (memory impairment) association with sine-wave current (The UK ECT Review Group 2003), it is now advised that brief-pulse wave be the standard treatment (American Psychiatric Association 2001; Royal College of Psychiatrists 2005; Enns et al. 2010). The use of sine-wave constant voltage and constant energy devices is currently not considered justified (APA guidelines) (American Psychiatric Association 2001). ECT spread rapidly from Europe to other continents and to the United States, due to the Second World War’s displacement of psychiatrists (Shorter 2009).