ECT-induced anterograde amnesia: can the deficits be minimized?

To date, no pharmacological agent has been confirmed to lessen electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)-induced memory deficits. BR-16A is an herbal preparation, containing various organic extracts, used in India for the enhancement of cognition (among other applications). In the present study, adult male Sprague-Dawley rats received six once-daily electroconvulsive shocks (ECSs). Half the animals were treated with BR-16A (200 mg/kg/day) for 1 week before ECS, during the ECS course, and during the post-ECS learning assessment phase; the remaining animals received vehicle alone. In experiment 1, rats (n = 16/treatment group) were preassessed for learning on days 3 and 5 of exposure to the Hebb-Williams complex maze and were reassessed after comparable exposure to the maze starting from the second day post-ECS. In experiment 2, rats (n = 9/treatment group) were preassessed for number of trials to satisfactory learning and number of wrong arm entries in a T-maze and were reassessed on the second day post-ECS. The learning preassessments were conducted just prior to the commencement of the BR-16A/vehicle treatments. In both experiments, rats receiving BR-16A performed significantly better than controls. It is concluded that BR-16A protects against ECS-induced anterograde amnesia. BR-16A may therefore have scope in minimizing ECT-induced learning deficits.