Psychosomatic Medicine 8:246-251 (1946)
© 1946 American Psychosomatic Society

Changes in the Electroencephalogram and in the Excretion of 17-Ketosteroids Accompanying Electro-Shock Therapy of Agitated Depression

¹ Worcester State Hospital and the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Worcester, Mass., John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
² Worcester State Hospital and the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Worcester, Mass.

Thirteen women suffering from agitated depression have been studied before, during and after periods of eight to fifteen electro-shock treatments.

Daily ratings with the use of a new psychiatric scale are found to correlate well with fast (> 13 per second) frequencies in the electroencephalograms. When the patients improve, the percentage of time these waves are present decreases; when they relapse the fast waves tend to return. However, there is also a tendency for the fast waves to return in some patients showing good remission.

The diurnal rhythm of the nightly rate of 17-ketosteroid excretion divided into the morning rate as a measure of adrenal cortical activity was also measured. While this value for normals is 1.60, in the patients studied the mean pre-treatment value was 1.03; during the treatment period it rose to 1.32, and declined in the post-treatment period to 1.25.

The possible significance of these findings is discussed in terms of questions they raise for future exploration.

Note:
On service with the armed forces.

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