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Electroconvulsive shock (ECS), an animal model of ECT, enhances proliferation of brain cells (Journal Watch Psychiatry Nov 27 2006 and Feb 8 2006). In a recent rat study, researchers examined the effects of ECS on cell growth in the infralimbic prefrontal cortex (ILPFC), which has a major role in processing emotion. In the analogous region in patients with mood disorders, a reduced number of glial cells has been found.
The investigators gave 10 rats active or sham ECS for 10 days and examined their brains 4 weeks later, with no intervening treatment. Compared with sham treatment, ECS had no effect on total ILPFC volume, but it induced a threefold increase in the number of cells that were new with ECS and those that continued to proliferate 4…