How electroconvulsive therapy heals the brain—new insights into ECT for depression

When most people hear about electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, it typically conjures terrifying images of cruel, outdated and pseudo-medical procedures. Formerly known as electroshock therapy, this perception of ECT as dangerous and ineffective has been reinforced in pop culture for decades—think the 1962 novel-turned-Oscar-winning film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” where an unruly patient is subjected to ECT as punishment by a tyrannical nurse.