EEG Power Spectra at Early Stages of Depressive Disorders

In previous quantitative EEG studies of depression, mostly patients with a lifetime history of depressive disorders were reported. This study examined quantitative EEG parameters obtained in the early stages of depression in comparison with age-matched healthy controls. EEG was recorded using two different montages in eyes closed and eyes open resting states. A significant increase in spectrum power in theta (4–7.5 Hz), alpha (7.5–14 Hz), and beta (14–20 Hz) frequency bands was found in depressed patients at parietal and occipital sites, both in eyes closed and eyes open conditions. These results suggest that an increase in slow (theta and alpha) activity in the EEG pattern may reflect a decreased cortical activation in these brain regions. Enhancement of beta power may correlate with anxiety symptoms that most likely play an important role on the onset of depressive disorder.

[1]  S. Shankman,et al.  Behavioral activation system deficits predict the six-month course of depression. , 2006, Journal of affective disorders.

[2]  Diagnosis and subtyping of depressive disorders by quantitative electroencephalography: III. Discriminating unipolar from bipolar depression. , 1988 .

[3]  A. Kopelowicz,et al.  Hemispheric asymmetry in depression and mania. A longitudinal QEEG study in bipolar disorder. , 1999, Journal of affective disorders.

[4]  R. Davidson,et al.  Anterior electrophysiological asymmetries, emotion, and depression: conceptual and methodological conundrums. , 1998, Psychophysiology.

[5]  John J. B. Allen,et al.  Regional electroencephalographic asymmetries in bipolar seasonal affective disorder before and after exposure to bright light , 1993, Biological Psychiatry.

[6]  B. Mulsant,et al.  Comorbidity of depression and anxiety disorders in later life , 2001, Depression and anxiety.

[7]  M. Weissman,et al.  Electroencephalographic measures of regional hemispheric activity in offspring at risk for depressive disorders , 2005, Biological Psychiatry.

[8]  E. John,et al.  Neurometrics: computer-assisted differential diagnosis of brain dysfunctions. , 1988, Science.

[9]  W. Klimesch.  EEG alpha and theta oscillations reflect cognitive and memory performance: a review and analysis , 1999, Brain Research Reviews.

[10]  C. Shagass,et al.  Some quantitative EEG findings in unmedicated and medicated major depressives. , 1988, Neuropsychobiology.

[11]  R J Sclabassi,et al.  Computerized EEG spectral analysis in elderly normal, demented and depressed subjects. , 1986, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[12]  Thomas Lampert,et al.  Disease Management Programs for Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials , 2004, Medical care.

[13]  J. Derksen.  Primary Care Psychologists in the Netherlands: 30 Years of Experience , 2009 .

[14]  J. Kwon,et al.  Right hemisphere abnormalities in major depression: quantitative electroencephalographic findings before and after treatment. , 1996, Journal of affective disorders.

[15]  J. Fawcett,et al.  Anxiety syndromes and their relationship to depressive illness. , 1983, The Journal of clinical psychiatry.

[16]  Andrew J. Tomarkenand,et al.  Frontal Brain Asymmetry and Depression: A Self-regulatory Perspective , 1998 .

[17]  David A Lewis,et al.  Neural and behavioral substrates of mood and mood regulation , 2002, Biological Psychiatry.

[18]  Carlo Perris,et al.  Intercorrelations between Different Computer-Based Measures of the EEG Alpha Amplitude and Its Variability over Time and Their Validity in Differentiating Healthy Volunteers from Depressed Patients1 , 1983 .

[19]  EEG power and coherence in presenile and senile depression. Characteristic findings related to differences between anxiety type and retardation type , 1995 .

[20]  J. Lind,et al.  A source-imaging (low-resolution electromagnetic tomography) study of the EEGs from unmedicated males with depression , 2004, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[21]  R. Davidson.  Cerebral asymmetry, emotion, and affective style. , 1995 .

[22]  R. Davidson,et al.  Regional brain electrical asymmetries discriminate between previously depressed and healthy control subjects. , 1990, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[23]  L. Schneider,et al.  Topographic quantitative EEG in elderly subjects with major depression. , 1990, Psychophysiology.

[24]  F. Quitkin,et al.  Regional brain asymmetries in major depression with or without an anxiety disorder: A quantitative electroencephalographic study , 1997, Biological Psychiatry.

[25]  G. Sheean,et al.  Upper Motor Neurone Syndrome and Spasticity: Neurophysiology of spasticity , 2008 .

[26]  J. Allen,et al.  Resting frontal electroencephalographic asymmetry in depression: inconsistencies suggest the need to identify mediating factors. , 1998, Psychophysiology.

[27]  Pearl H. Chiu,et al.  Cognitive restructuring and EEG in major depression , 2005, Biological Psychology.

[28]  W. Heller,et al.  The puzzle of regional brain activity in depression and anxiety: The importance of subtypes and comorbidity. , 1998 .

[29]  R. Davidson,et al.  Effects of lateralized presentations of faces on self-reports of emotion and EEG asymmetry in depressed and non-depressed subjects. , 1985, Psychophysiology.

[30]  R. Goldberg,et al.  Diagnostic dilemmas presented by patients with anxiety and depression. , 1995, The American journal of medicine.

[31]  R. Davidson,et al.  Frontal and parietal electroencephalogram asymmetry in depressed and nondepressed subjects. , 1983, Biological psychiatry.

[32]  Patrick Berg,et al.  Artifact Correction of the Ongoing EEG Using Spatial Filters Based on Artifact and Brain Signal Topographies , 2002, Journal of clinical neurophysiology : official publication of the American Electroencephalographic Society.

[33]  J. Riskind,et al.  Vulnerability to Psychopathology: A Biosocial Model , 1999, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[34]  D. Pine,et al.  Electroencephalographic asymmetries in adolescents with major depression: influence of comorbidity with anxiety disorders. , 2000, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[35]  S. Uijtdehaage,et al.  Assessing the accuracy of topographic EEG mapping for determining local brain function. , 1998, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[36]  S. Shankman,et al.  The relation between depression and anxiety: an evaluation of the tripartite, approach-withdrawal and valence-arousal models. , 2003, Clinical psychology review.

[37]  Tatiana Foroud,et al.  Linkage disequilibrium between the beta frequency of the human EEG and a GABAA receptor gene locus , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[38]  Richard A. Roemer,et al.  Quantitative EEG in elderly depressives , 2005, Brain Topography.

[39]  B J Fisch,et al.  The weighted average reference montage. , 1991, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[40]  J. Gorman.  Comorbid depression and anxiety spectrum disorders , 1996, Depression and anxiety.

[41]  T. Sejnowski,et al.  Removal of eye activity artifacts from visual event-related potentials in normal and clinical subjects , 2000, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[42]  J. P. Kline,et al.  Can EEG asymmetry patterns predict future development of anxiety and depression? A preliminary study , 2006, Biological Psychology.

[43]  M S Buchsbaum,et al.  Simultaneous cerebral glucography with positron emission tomography and topographic electroencephalography. , 1984, Progress in brain research.

[44]  N. Passynkova,et al.  EEG mapping in seasonal affective disorder. , 2002, Journal of affective disorders.

[45]  S. Debener,et al.  Is Resting Anterior EEG Alpha Asymmetry a Trait Marker for Depression? , 2000, Neuropsychobiology.

[46]  Jeffrey B. Henriques,et al.  Left frontal hypoactivation in depression. , 1991, Journal of abnormal psychology.