Advances in Psychiatry and Neurology
eISSN: 2720-5371
ISSN: 1230-2813
Advances in Psychiatry and Neurology/Postępy Psychiatrii i Neurologii
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4/2025
vol. 34
 
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abstract:
Review article

The use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a potential marker of the efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy

Natalia Biedroń
1
,
Piotr Ziemecki
1
,
Aleksandra Bełżek
1
,
Firoz Rizvi
1
,
Agnieszka Permoda-Pachuta
2

  1. I Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Early Intervention, Medical University of Lublin, Poland
  2. Department of Neuroses, Personality Disorders, and Eating Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland
Adv Psychiatry Neurol 2025; 34 (4)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/ppn.2025.156775
Online publish date: 2025/12/08
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Purpose
Neuroimaging and biological predictors of response to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are still being sought, so as to enable a full understanding of its therapeutic effects. The present study aims to determine the role of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a potential predictor of response to treatment with and efficacy of ECT.

Views
Each of the currently used neuroimaging methods has its limitations; however, the advantages of fNIRS provide a starting point for the widespread use of this method in the assessment of ECT. Studies using fNIRS for measurement have shown that prior to undergoing ECT depressed patients have a bilaterally lower frontal oxyhaemoglobin response to cognitive tasks compared to healthy subjects. After ECT, there is a change in oxyhaemoglobin (oxy-Hb) values compared to pre-treatment ones. However, the results regarding changes in oxy-Hb values obtained by different groups of investigators were not consistent.

Conclusions
Higher oxy-Hb values are achieved in healthy subjects than in patients. Apart from that, oxy-Hb values in patients are altered after ECT. For this reason the use of fNIRS can be an objective assessment of its therapeutic effect on patients. However, for fNIRS to become a biomarker for ECT treatment, studies need to be conducted on a larger patient population, considering the time since the last ECT and various disease entities.

keywords:

schizophrenia, depression, ECT, fNIRS
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