electroconvulsive therapy

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Administration of electric current to the brain through electrodes placed on the head in order to induce seizure activity, used to treat certain psychiatric disorders, especially severe depression.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient, abbreviated ECT.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the administration of a strong electric current that passes through the brain to induce convulsions and coma