Part 1
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a therapeutic procedure where a small electrical current is passed through the brain, triggering a seizure under general anaesthesia.
Part 2
One Indicator of ECT is major depression.
Scientific Research
It is theorised that the electrical impulse triggers a seizure that turns on the "Narp gene" in the brain. The molecular changes allow more communication between neurons in the hippocampus, a part of the brain also known to respond to antidepressant drugs. New brain cells develop in the brain’s hippocampus after electroconvulsive therapy in a healthy mouse and a mouse lacking the gene Narp. The new cells from the Narp-less mice have fewer branching dendrites needed for communication with nearby brain cells than the healthy mice.
- "Chang A.D., Vaidya P.V. (2018) Narp Mediates Antidepressant-Like Effects of Electroconvulsive Seizures. by Neuropsychopharmacology."
The Illustrations
Neuron:
The yellow comes from the fat cells surrounding the neutrons. The green is due to the theme of the brochure. And the white is from the grey matter of the brain. The deformed version results from a fun experiment with the liquify and noise option on Photoshop.
Traditional: Coloured pencil on black pencil - Digital: Procreate & Adobe Photoshop
Hippocampus:
As the Hippocampus is the area of the brain receptive to antidepressants and the only area of the brain believed to have the ability to regenerate brain cells. Since it is associated with depression in general, I found it relevant to be added to the brochure's layout.
I used two Sketchfab models, one for the limbic system and the other for the outer brain structure. I started with tracing them using vector line work for the limbic system. When it came to the external brain, the line work, especially in the middle, started getting messy; therefore, I took a step back and used a simple pencil to map out which of the gyri and sulci I needed to emphasise and which could be faded out to declutter the illustration.
Ultimately, it was decided that the hippocampus involvement and illustration explanation were perhaps too advanced for the layman patient, and we opted without them.
Digital: Adobe Illustrator
TBC with ECT:4. Procedure Setup and final layout