Get help now — free helplines

You can call any of these for free. You do not need a diagnosis, an appointment, or a crisis to call — questions and plain exhaustion are reasons enough.

  • Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline 800-272-3900 24 hours a day, 365 days a year Free, confidential support and information for people with dementia, caregivers, families and the public. Master's-level clinicians. Also Spanish.
  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988 24/7 Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. For anyone in emotional distress or a mental-health crisis, including caregivers.
  • Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) Helpline 866-232-8484 9:00 am - 9:00 pm ET, seven days a week Licensed social workers providing support, info and referrals. Also text message and web chat. Text: 646-586-5283

In a medical emergency, call 911. More numbers, and what each line does, on the help page.

This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 53 out of 100. Hippocampus size on brain scans

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Background Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) elicits a rapid and robust clinical response in patients with refractory depression. Neuroimaging measurements of structural plasticity relating to and predictive of ECT response may point to the mechanisms underlying rapid antidepressant effects and establish biomarkers to inform other treatments. Here, we determine the effects of diagnosis and of ECT on global and local variations of hippocampal and amygdala structures in major depression and predictors of ECT-related clinical response. Methods Longitudinal changes in hippocampal and amygdala structures were examined in patients with major depression (N = 43, scanned three times: prior to ECT, after the second ECT session, and within 1 week of completing the ECT treatment series), referred for ECT as part of their standard clinical care. Cross-sectional comparisons with demographically similar controls (N = 32, scanned twice) established effects of diagnosis. Results Patients showed smaller hippocampal volumes than controls at baseline (p < .04). Both the hippocampal and the amygdala volumes increased with ECT (p < .001) and in relation to symptom improvement (p < .01). Hippocampal volume at baseline predicted subsequent clinical response (p < .05). Shape analysis revealed pronounced morphometric changes in the anterior hippocampus and basolateral and centromedial amygdala. All structural measurements remained stable across time in controls. Conclusions ECT-induced neuroplasticity in the hippocampus and amygdala relates to improved clinical response and is pronounced in regions with prominent connections to ventromedial prefrontal cortex and other limbic structures. Smaller hippocampal volumes at baseline predict a more robust clinical response. Neurotrophic processes including neurogenesis shown in preclinical studies may underlie these structural changes.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Joshi, S. H., Espinoza, R. T., Pirnia, T., Shi, J., Wang, Y., Ayers, B., et al. (2016). Structural Plasticity of the Hippocampus and Amygdala Induced by Electroconvulsive Therapy in Major Depression. Biological psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.02.029

Vancouver

Joshi SH, Espinoza RT, Pirnia T, Shi J, Wang Y, Ayers B, et al. Structural Plasticity of the Hippocampus and Amygdala Induced by Electroconvulsive Therapy in Major Depression. Biological psychiatry. 2016. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.02.029. PMID: 25842202.

BibTeX

@article{joshi2016-25842202,
  author  = {Joshi, S. H. and Espinoza, R. T. and Pirnia, T. and Shi, J. and Wang, Y. and Ayers, B. and Leaver, A. and Woods, R. P. and others},
  title   = {{Structural Plasticity of the Hippocampus and Amygdala Induced by Electroconvulsive Therapy in Major Depression}},
  journal = {Biological psychiatry},
  year    = {2016},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.02.029},
  pmid    = {25842202},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.02.029}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

Key findings

Study details

How this study scored 53/100
How this study's score is builtJournal tier 7 of 10; Journal's citation record left out, no data; Study design 4 of 12; Strength of evidence 3 of 5; Peer-review validation 10 of 10; How recent 1 of 5; Sample size 1 of 4; Effect reported 0 of 3; Studied in people 3 of 3; Randomised / blinded 0 of 2; Times cited left out, no data; Citations per year left out, no data; Impact for its field and year left out, no data; Cited by studies here left out, no data; Still being cited left out, no data; Senior author's track record left out, no data; Institution's track record left out, no data; Multi-centre collaboration left out, no data; Indexed in PubMed 2 of 2; Free to read 0 of 2. 31 of the 58 points it could be judged on, which is 53 of 100. Total 53 of 100.31 of the 58 points we could judge = 53 of 100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 31 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 53 out of 100.

ComponentPointsWhy
Journal tier 7 / 10 Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Biological psychiatry)
Journal's citation record — / 4 No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
Study design 4 / 12 A snapshot of people at one point in time
Strength of evidence 3 / 5 Rated “moderate” in our summary
Peer-review validation 10 / 10 Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent 1 / 5 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size 1 / 4 43 participants
Effect reported 0 / 3 No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people 3 / 3 Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomised / blinded 0 / 2 No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited — / 7 No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score
Citations per year — / 5 No citation count or no year — left out of this score
Impact for its field and year — / 6 No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here — / 6 Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score
Still being cited — / 4 No yearly citation counts — left out of this score
Senior author's track record — / 4 Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record — / 3 No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score
Multi-centre collaboration — / 3 Institutions not listed — left out of this score
Indexed in PubMed 2 / 2 Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25842202)
Free to read 0 / 2 Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points 31 / 58 Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 31 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 53 out of 100.
Total 53 / 100 —

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.

Related studies in Hippocampus size on brain scans

Also tagged “disorder”

492 studies in the library carry the topic tag “disorder”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 492 tagged studies.

Similar studies

More on Hippocampus size on brain scans

See all studies in Hippocampus size on brain scans →