Value of quantitative electroencephalography in psychiatry
Etevenon, P.; Péron-Magnan, P.
La Semaine des Hopitaux Organe Fonde Par l'Association d'Enseignement Medical des Hopitaux de Paris 58(44): 2606-2614
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0037-1777 PMID: 6297054 Document Number: 184213
Computerized quantitative EEG processes the signal in four sequential steps: 1) EEG sampling with rejection of artefacts; 2) Fourier analysis (power spectrum according to frequency); 3) data reduction with computation of spectral parameters in five-minute recordings on at least four EEG channels (mean frequencies, mean amplitudes in microvolts and %, with standard deviations for delta, theta, alpha and beta frequency bands); 4) data base and multivariate statistical analyses. Five main results are obtained by computerized quantitative EEG analysis in psychiatry and clinical pharmacology: 1) longitudinal studies of patients before and after treatment; 2) transversal studies of homogeneous EEG groups (discrimination between tracings of residual-type or paranoid-type schizophrenic patients) comparatively with control groups (high and low alpha subjects); 3) study of psychotropic drugs: profiles, prediction of action, dose-effect curves, pharmacokinetic studies, biodisponibility, correlations with plasmatic levels and behavioural or clinical psychiatric rating scales; 4) typologic classification and discrimination by multivariate analysis, studies of functional activities: functional interhemispheric lateralisation of amplitudes and its variations during the course of psychotic processes; 5) new techniques: computerized topo-electroencephalography (CT-EEG, BEAM technique) based on 16 EEG recordings, comparison with other imaging techniques.