The recent study of Bruder et al. (
1
) adds further data to a growing evidence base demonstrating the ability of electroencephalographic
methods to study the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs and prediction of
response in patients. It is reported that clinical responders to a 12-week trial of
fluoxetine had significantly greater pretreatment electroencephalography (EEG) α power
in the occipital region (electrodes O1 and O2) than control subjects, with a trend
for a similar difference between responders and nonresponders. However, what might
have been a surprise to some is that Bruder et al. found that α power was extremely stable in both responders and nonresponders comparing
pretreatment EEGs with recordings made after 12 weeks on fluoxetine.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Published online: September 19, 2008
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© 2008 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- ReplyBiological PsychiatryVol. 64Issue 10
- PreviewWiśniewski et al. make the interesting point that despite the lack of changes in electroencephalography (EEG) α power after 12 weeks of fluoxetine treatment in our study (1), other studies have reported acute effects of a single dose or up to a couple of weeks of antidepressant drugs on EEG α power. There might well be acute effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant drugs on EEG measures that are not seen during chronic treatment. Acute changes in EEG are particularly important if they predict subsequent clinical response to an SSRI (2).
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