The Impact of Memantine on Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): Will it Improve Response and Protect Against Cognitive Problems?

Memantine Augmentation of Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients With Major Depression

The purpose of this study is to determine whether memantine will enhance the therapeutic of effect on depression and prevent memory and other cognitive problems caused by ECT.

Patients will be assigned randomly either to a treatment group or a placebo groups. All patients in both groups will be receiving standard ECT. The treatment group will receive memantine. All patients will be given a battery of cognitive tests and test of depression before ECT treatments start, after the 6th ECT treatment and after the completions of ECT. An analysis will be performed to see if memantine causes any impact on the response to ECT and prevents memory and cognitive impairment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Meets criteria for Major Depressive disorder

Exclusion Criteria:

• Neurological disease
• Mental retardation
• Seizure disorder