Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Topic · Psychiatry and Mental health

Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies

Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies is a research topic within Psychiatry and Mental health. Science Explorer counts 16k research works in it since 1950. 10.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the efficacy, safety, and mechanisms of action of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of various psychiatric conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, catatonia, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome. It also explores the association between ECT and serotonin syndrome, as well as the cognitive effects and hippocampal volume changes associated with ECT. Additionally, it discusses the use of magnetic seizure therapy as an alternative to traditional ECT.

  • Electroconvulsive Therapy
  • Serotonin Syndrome
  • Catatonia
  • Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome
  • Depression
  • Serotonin Toxicity
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Magnetic Seizure Therapy
  • Cognitive Effects
  • Hippocampal Volume
Research works
16k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+23%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
44% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

Which countries lead Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (846 and 188 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 846 works
  2. 2 China 188 works
  3. 3 India 177 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 167 works
  5. 5 Germany 110 works
  6. 6 Japan 108 works
  7. 7 Spain 101 works
  8. 8 Canada 96 works
  9. 9 Australia 76 works
  10. 10 Italy 71 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 43.6%China: 9.7%India: 9.1%United Kingdom: 8.6%6 others listed: 29.0%44%largest
United States846 · 43.6%China188 · 9.7%India177 · 9.1%United Kingdom167 · 8.6%6 others listed562 · 29.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Harvard University publishes the most Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies research, followed by University of Toronto and Northwell Health.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Harvard UniversityUnited States 52 works
  2. 2 University of TorontoCanada 24 works
  3. 3 Northwell HealthUnited States 19 works
  4. 4 All India Institute of Medical SciencesIndia 18 works
  5. 5 Universitat de BarcelonaSpain 15 works
  6. 6 National Institute of Mental Health and NeurosciencesIndia 15 works
  7. 7 Vanderbilt UniversityUnited States 15 works
  8. 8 King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 14 works
  9. 9 University of MichiganUnited States 13 works
  10. 10 UNSW SydneyAustralia 13 works

Who are the leading researchers in Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies include Ronald C. Kessler, Dan J. Stein and Peter Christian Gøtzsche.

  1. 1 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
  2. 2 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k citations
  3. 3 Peter Christian Gøtzsche Denmark 292k citations
  4. 4 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k citations
  5. 5 Valentı́n Fuster United States 257k citations
  6. 6 Josep María Haro Spain 250k citations
  7. 7 Kaj Blennow Sweden 247k citations
  8. 8 Isabela M. Benseñor Brazil 245k citations
  9. 9 Paulo A. Lotufo Brazil 239k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies?

The most cited paper in Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies is "Regulation of BDNF and trkB mRNA in rat brain by chronic electroconvulsive seizure and antidepressant drug treatments" (Masashi Nibuya, Shigeru Morinobu, R. S. Duman, 1995), with 2,117 citations. Next come "The Serotonin Syndrome" (1,829) and "Development and Validation of a Screening Instrument for Bipolar Spectrum Disorder: The Mood Disorder Questionnaire" (1,544).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Regulation of BDNF and trkB mRNA in rat brain by chronic electroconvulsive seizure and antidepressant drug treatments Masashi Nibuya, Shigeru Morinobu, R. S. Duman · Journal of Neuroscience Open access Nov 1995 2,117
2 The Serotonin Syndrome Edward W. Boyer, Michael Shannon · New England Journal of Medicine 17 Mar 2005 1,829
3 Development and Validation of a Screening Instrument for Bipolar Spectrum Disorder: The Mood Disorder Questionnaire Robert M. A. Hirschfeld, Janet B. W. Williams, Robert L. Spitzer et al. · American Journal of Psychiatry Nov 2000 1,544
4 Clinical research with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): Challenges and future directions ANDRÉ RUSSOWSKY BRUNONI, Michael Andreas Nitsche, Nadia Bolognini et al. · Brain stimulation Open access Apr 2011 1,476
5 Positron Emission Tomographic Analysis of Central D1 and D2 Dopamine Receptor Occupancy in Patients Treated With Classical Neuroleptics and Clozapine Lars Farde · Archives of General Psychiatry Jul 1992 1,425
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies research done?

The largest centres of Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Boston (United States) and Tokyo (Japan).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 57 works
  2. 2 New YorkUnited States 45 works
  3. 3 BostonUnited States 37 works
  4. 4 TokyoJapan 33 works
  5. 5 TorontoCanada 29 works
  6. 6 IstanbulTürkiye 24 works
  7. 7 BarcelonaSpain 23 works
  8. 8 MadridSpain 23 works
  9. 9 BeijingChina 22 works
  10. 10 BengaluruIndia 21 works
See Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Harvard University, University of Toronto and University College London score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 20.14%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Stanford UniversityUniversity College L…University of TorontoHarvard University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Harvard UniversityUnited States 85.119.1%6.8×52 +37.3%
2University of TorontoCanada 68.522.7%5.0×24 -15.3%
3University College LondonUnited Kingdom 65.327.0%2.4×9 +49.1%
4Stanford UniversityUnited States 60.528.2%2.6×9 +66.6%
5King's College LondonUnited Kingdom 59.915.7%6.8×14 +48.6%
6Chongqing Medical UniversityChina 56.919.0%9.0×12 +86.0%
7University of California San DiegoUnited States 52.623.2%3.5×8 +15.9%
8Universitat de BarcelonaSpain 51.78.4%8.4×16 +21.6%
9Sichuan UniversityChina 51.125.3%1.6×9 +267.4%
10University of CincinnatiUnited States 50.012.8%6.8×10 +233.9%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies, country by country

Is Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 23% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.011% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies0.012% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies. Posts are plain text and can be reported.