Right hemisphere abnormalities in major depression: Quantitative electroencephalographic findings before and after treatment

Jun Soo Kwon, Tak Youn, Hee Yeon Jung

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Scopus citations

Abstract

The quantitative EEGs of drug-free depressed patients were analyzed and compared to age and sex-matched controls, using spectral analysis. In addition, QEEGs of depressed patients after clinical improvement resulting from 6 weeks of antidepressant treatment were also analyzed. The subjects were 20 patients suffering from major depression (DSM-III-R). Scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) of all patients showed a reduction of more than 50% at the end of the 6th week. The results show: (1) delta and theta bipolar absolute powers of the right hemisphere increased in drug-free depressed patients, compared to controls. (2) No changes in all bands of QEEG were found after clinical improvement resulting from 6 weeks of treatment. These results suggest that the right hemisphere plays an important role in major depression, and that a reduction in symptoms is not necessarily indicative of an improvement in underlying major depression.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)169-173
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Affective Disorders
Volume40
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Oct 1996

Keywords

  • Major depression
  • QEEG
  • Right hemisphere
  • Spectral analysis

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