Images in electroconvulsive therapy: electroconvulsive shocks dose-dependently increase dendritic arborization in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampus.

Stress and depression are associated with impaired neuroplasticity in the hippocampus: there is decreased dendritic arborization and synaptogenesis, which is hypothesized to explain decreased adaptive competence of the organism. Representative light microscopy images are presented that show that 6 once-daily electroconvulsive shocks (ECSs) dose-dependently increased dendritic arborization in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in healthy, adult, male Wistar rats (n = 10 in each of sham, 10-mC, and 40-mC ECS groups). These neuroplasticity changes, identified 1 month after the last ECS, may explain a part of the mechanism of action of electroconvulsive therapy in conditions such as depression.