Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T16:07:07.512Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dynamically rigid EEG and subtyping of depressive syndromes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

G Ulrich  and
K Brand
G Ulrich
Affiliation:
Psychiatrische Klinik und Poliklinik, der Freien Universität Berlin, Eschenallee 3, D-1000Berlin 19, Germany
K Brand
Affiliation:
Psychiatrische Klinik und Poliklinik, der Freien Universität Berlin, Eschenallee 3, D-1000Berlin 19, Germany
Get access

Summary

The contribution of EEG to theory as well as to psychiatric practice of depression is negligible. The prevailing view is that no ‘abnormal’ characteristic can be demonstrated in affective disorders. Since ‘abnormal’ is generally taken in a neurological sense, all those EEG characteristics are faded out which cannot be regarded as neurologically abnormal but which nevertheless may be useful for psychiatric concerns. Thus, early observations concerning the spatio-temporal aspect of the EEG have essentially gone unnoticed, thereby evading systematic scrutiny. It has been maintained that periodically melancholic patients more often exhibited a dynamically rigid EEG than patients with neurotic forms. Our retrospective study involved 314 inpatients with depressive disorders who were subdivided into an ‘endogenous’ and a ‘non-endogenous’ subgroup using both IC'D 9 diagnoses as well as RDC criteria. The EEGs were designated to one of the three categories, rigid, labile, or physiomorphic. Forty-two percent of the patients in the ‘endogenous’ subgroup exhibited a dynamically rigid EEG (DR) compared to 20% of those from the ‘non-endogenous’ subgroup. Symptoms of psychomotor retardation positively correlated with DR, whereas ‘anxiety’ positively correlated with non-DR (labile or physiomorphic EEG dynamics). In addition, there was a positive correlation between DR and both the number of manifestations of depressive disorders and the number of previous hospitalizations. We interpret DR as a personality-bound characteristic which, far from being pathognomonic of a certain syndrome or even diagnosis, instead indicates a higher degree of vulnerability towards manifestation of melancholic syndromes with psychomotor retardation. This does not exclude the possibility of a state-dependent intensification of DR.

Keywords

dynamic rigidity in EEGpsychomotor retardationmelancholia
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , 1993 , pp. 25 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier, Paris 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The author participated in this study as part of his doctoral dissertion

References

Akiskal, HSCassano, GBMusetti, LPerugi, GTundo, AMignani, V (1989) Psychopathology, temperament, and past course in primary major depressions. Psychopathology 22, 268–277CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bente, D (1964) Die Insuffizienz des Vigilitätstonus. Postdoctoral Thesis, ErlangenGoogle Scholar
Bente, D (1965) Das Elektroenzephalogramm bei Psychosen: Befunde und Probleme Hippokrates 36, 817–823Google Scholar
Bente, D (1975) Psychophysiologische Hypothesen zur Genese depressiver Erkrankungen. Arztl Praxis 27, 3641–3643Google Scholar
Bente, D (1976) Elektroenzephalographische Gesichtspunkte zum Wach-Schlaf-Verhalten und zur Chronopliysiologie endogener Depressionen. Arzneimittelforsch Drug Res 26, 1058–1061Google Scholar
Bente, DPfeiffer, WM (1964) Verlaufsdynamische Besonderheiten der Amitriptylin-Medikation unter Berücksichtigung elektroenzephalographischer Befunde. Arzneimittelforsch Drug Res 14, 523–527Google Scholar
Blanc, CLairy, GC (1960) Modifications de 1'EEC au cours des syndromes dépressifs. Rev Neurol 102, 371–374Google Scholar
Brezinova, VNovotná, Plzák, MSoucek, KZaviral, J (1966) A contribution to the longitudinal study of manic-depressive psychoses. EEG Clin Neurophysiol 20, 279–284Google Scholar
Bron, BLehmann, K (1990) The issue of the core syndrome of endogenous depression. Psychopathology 23, 1–8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cornell, DGSuarez, RBerent, S (1984) Psychomotor retardation in melancholic and non-melancholic depression: cognitive and motor components. J Abnorm psychol 93, 150–157CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, P (1941) Electroencephalograms of manicdepressive patients. Am J Psychiatry 98, 430–433CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebert, D (1990) Psychopathologie und Verlauffektiver Psychosen. Fundamenta Psychiatrica 4, 119–123Google Scholar
d'Elia, GPerris, C (1973) Cerebral functional dominance and depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand 49, 191–197CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foulds, GA (1960) Psychotic depression and age J Ment Sci 106, 1394–1397CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gebhardt, RPietzcker, AStrauss, AStoeckel, MLanger, CFreudenthal, K (1983) Skalenbildung im AMDPSystem. Arch Psychiat Nervenkr 233, 223–245CrossRefGoogle Scholar
v. Gebsattel, VE (1939) Die Störungen des Werdens und des Zeiterlebens im Rahmen psychiatrischer Erkrankungen.In: Gegenwartsprobleme der psychiatrisch-neurologischen Forschung (Roggenbau, CH ed). Enke, Stuttgart, pp 8–34Google Scholar
Giberti, FRossi, R (1962) Proposal of a psychopharmacological test ('stimulation threshold’) for differentiating neurotic from psychotic depressions. Psychopharmacologia 3, 128–131CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, L (1975) Time domain analysis of the EEG. The integration method.In: CEAN-Computerized EEG Analysis (Dolce, GKünkel, H eds). Fischer, Stuttgart, pp 251–270Google Scholar
Guy, WBan, TA (1982) The AMDP-System. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, MWhite, JM (1959) Clinical syndromes in depressive states. J Ment Sci 105, 985–997CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harding, GJeavons, PMJenner, FADrummond, PSheridan, MHowells, GW (1966) The electroencephalogram in three cases of periodic psychosis. EEG Clin Neurophysiol 21, 59–66CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holley, JWGuilford, JP (1964) A note on the G-index of agreement. Educ Psychol Measmt 24, 749–753CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurst, LAMundy-Castle, ACBeerstecher, DM (1954) The electroencephalogram in manic-depressive psychosis. J Ment Dis 100, 220–240CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
John, ERPritchep, LSFridman, JEaston, P (1988) Neurometrics: computer-assisted differential diagnosis of brain dysfunctions. Science 239, 162–169CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiloh, LGGarside, RF (1963) The independence of neurotic depression and endogenous depression. Br J Psychiatry 109, 451–463CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Von Knorring, LPerris, CGoldstein, LKemali, DMonakhov, CVacca, L (1983) 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 patients. Adv Biol Psychiatr 13, 172–181CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kojima, TShimazono, YIchise, KAtsumi, YAndo, HAndo, K (1981) Eye movements as an indicator of brain function. Folia Psychiat Neurol Japonica 35, 425–435Google ScholarPubMed
Kraepelin, E (1913) Psychiatrie, 8. Aufl. Barth, LeipzigGoogle Scholar
Künkel, H (1980) Elektroenzephalographie und Psychiatric.In: Psychiatrie der Gegenwart (Kisker, KPMeyer, JEMüller, CStrömgen, E eds). vol 1, Springer, Berlin, 115–196Google Scholar
Kuhlo, WLehmann, D (1964) Das Einschlaferleben und seine neurophysiologischen Korrelate. Arch Psychiat Nervenkr 205, 687–716CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lange, J (1928) Die endogenen und reaktiven Gemütserkrankungen und die manisch-depressive Konstitution. Handbuch der Geisteskrankheiten (Bumke, O ed) Vol VI, Spezieller Teil II Springer, Berlin, 1–231Google Scholar
Lienert, G (1973) Verteilungsfreie Methoden in der Biostatistik. Hain, MeisenheimGoogle Scholar
Loomis, ALHarvey, ENHobart, GH (1937) Cerebral states during sleep, as studied by human brain potentials. J Exp Psychol 21, 127–144CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marjerrison, GJames, JReichert, H (1974) EEG findings in a comparative study of unilateral and bilateral ECT. Paper presented at the Canadian Psychiatric Association's Meeting, OttawaCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyström, CMatousek, MHällström, T (1986) Relationships between EEG and clinical characteristics in major depressive disorder. Acta Psychiat Scand 73, 390–394CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paulson, GWGottlieb, G (1961) A longitudinal study of the electroencephalographic arousal response in depressed patients. J Nerv Ment Dis 133, 524–528CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perez-Reyes, M (1972) Differences in sedative susceptibility between types of depression. Clinical and neurophysiological significance.In: Recent Advances in the Psychobiology of Depression (Williams, TA ed). Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 119–130Google Scholar
Perris, C (1980) Central measures of depression.In: Handbook of Biological Psychiatry, Part II (Van Praag, HMLader, MHRafaelsen, OJSachar, EJ eds). Marcel Dekker, New York - Basel, 183–223Google Scholar
Ploog, DSelbach, H (1957) Ober den Funktionswandel des vegetativen Systems im Sympatol-Versuch während der Elektroschockbehandlung. Dtsch Z Nervenheilk 167, 270–302Google Scholar
Pollock, VESchneider, LS (1989) Topographic electroencephalographic alpha in recovered depressed elderly. Abnorm Psychol 98, 268–273CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Post, R (1959) Imipramine in depression. Br Med J 2, 1252CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Praag, H (1990) The DSM-IV (depression) classification: to be or not to be? J Nerv Ment Dis 178, 147–149CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prien, RFKupfer, DJ (1986) Continuation drug therapy for major depressive episodes: how long should it be maintained? Am J Psychiatry 143, 18–23Google ScholarPubMed
Prichep, LS (1987) Neurometric quantitative EEG features of depressive disorders.In: Cerebral Dynamics, Laterality and Psychopathology (Takahashi, RFlor-Henry, PGruzelier, JNiwa, S eds). Elsevier, Amsterdam, New York, Oxford, 55–69Google Scholar
Roth, B (1961) The clinical and theoretical importance of EEG rhythms corresponding to states of lowered vigilance. EEG Clin Neurophysiol 13, 395–399CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roth, MBarnes, TRE (1981) The classification of affective disorders: a synthesis of old and new concepts. Compn Psychiatry 22, 54–77CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santamaria, JChiappa, KH (1987) The EEG of Drowsiness. Demos, New YorkGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaffer, CEDavidson, RJSaron, C (1983) Frontal and parietal EEG asymmetries in depressed and nondepressed subjects. Biol Psychiatry 18, 753–762Google Scholar
Shagass, ChNaiman, JMikalik, J (1956) An objective test which differentiates between neurotic and psychotic depression. Arch Neurol Psychiatr 75, 461–471CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shagass, ChJones, AL (1958) A neurophysiological test for psychiatric diagnosis. Results in 750 patients. Am J Psychiatry 114, 1002–1009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shagass, ChSchwartz, M (1961) Reactivity cycle of somatosensory cortex in humans with and without psychiatric disorder. Science 134, 1754–1759CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shagass, CRoemer, RAStraumanis, JJ (1982) Relationships between psychiatric diagnosis and some quantitative EEG variables. Arch Gen Psychiatr 39, 1433–1435CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shagass, ChRoemer, RAJosiassen, RC (1988) Some quantitative EEG findings in unmedicated and medicated major depressives. Neuropsychobiology 19, 169–175CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silberman, EKWeingartner, HPost, RM (1983) Thinking disorder in depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 40, 775–780CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sinitski, VN (1990) Pathogenic mechanisms of depressive states. Neurosci Behav Physiol 20, 44–48Google Scholar
Spitzer, RLEndicott, JRobins, EResearch Diagnostic Criteria: rational and reliability. Arch Gen Psychiat 35, 773–782CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spitzer, RLEndicott, JRobins, E (1982) Forschungs- Diagnose-Kriterien (RDC) Beltz, WeinheimGoogle Scholar
Strian, FKlicpera, CCaspar, F (1977) Autonomic activation and endogenous depression. Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr 223, 203–218CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swartzburg, MChowdhrey, S (1977) On the informational value of quantitated interhemispheric EEG data for the appraisal of the mental status of patients 6th World Congress of Psychiatry, Honolulu, Abstr No 205Google Scholar
Ulrich, GHerrmann, WMHegerl, UMüller-Oerlinghausen, B (1990) Effect of lithium on the dynamics of electroencephalographic vigilance in healthy subjects. J Affect Dis 20, 19–25CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whybrow, PParlatore, A (1973) Melancholia: a model in madness. A discussion of recent psychobiological research into depressive illness. Psychiatr Med 4, 351–378CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zahn, TP (1986) Psychophysiological approaches to psychopathology.In: Psychophysiology (Coles, MGHDonchin, EPorges, SW eds). Elsevier, Amsterdam, Oxford, pp 508–610Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.