electroconvulsive therapy

It seemed to work: Antidepressants and electroconvulsive therapy often made the animal try harder.

People can decline electroconvulsive therapy, for instance, or name care they want medical staff to try before they use approaches of last resort, such as arm and leg restraints.

"However, in people for whom medications don't work, electroconvulsive therapy can be life-saving. Understanding how it works will help us discover ways to increase the benefits while minimizing side effects."

A fourth study published in June in the New England Journal of Medicine found ketamine worked just as well as electroconvulsive therapy among patients with depression.

And as electroconvulsive therapy is in its 85th year of use, definitive answers continue to elude scientists — and patients.