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A double‐blind multicentre study was undertaken to compare the efficacy and safety of remoxipride in a controlled release (CR) formulation given once daily with haloperidol twice daily in patients with schizophrenic illness. In total, 114 patients were included. All were diagnosed as schizophrenic or schizophreniform according to DSM‐III. Their mean daily dose of remoxipride CR during the last week of treatment was 385 mg. In the haloperidol group the corresponding dose was 17 mg per day. The intended study period was 4 weeks with at least a one‐day washout. No significant differences were found between treatments regarding efficacy variables. The median total Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) score was 40 in the remoxipride CR group at start of treatment and 21 at last valid rating. For the haloperidol group the corresponding figures were 40 and 22. Treatment‐emergent extrapyramidal symptoms (Simpson and Angus rating) occurred statistically significantly more frequently and were more severe during haloperidol than during remoxipride CR treatment despite a statistically significantly higher concurrent use of anticholinergic drugs in the haloperidol group.

During the last few years, the working group ‘Psychophysiology’ of the Association for Methodology and Documentation in Psychiatry (AMDP) discussed the possibility of the establishment of defined EEG modules in psychiatry. It was the aim to create a common data pool in order to be able to have access to larger data sets. The installation of such a common data pool was regarded as an important prerequisite for a future diagnostic application of EEG and EP data in clinical practice. The most relevant arguments are: From a statistical point of view, multivariate investigations can be improved when relatively large data sets are available. Subgrouping of patients is facilitated. Different centers have access to different populations of patients. Furthermore, compliance with the recommendations contributes to a reduction in misunderstanding and false interpretation of other investigators’ results. The working group ‘Psychophysiology’ of the AMDP now recommends EEG modules to be registered in psychiatry. The recommendations are based on investigations using these modules in clinical research and practice as well as several years of discussion within the working group. Four AMDP modules (I–IV) are presented: MI: resting EEG (closed eyes), Mil: resting EEG (eyes open), MIll: EEG during videotracking, and MIV: EEG during choice reaction time. Recommendations for additional modules are planned in the near future: MV: EEG during geometry test, MVI: EEG during labyrinth test, and MVII: amplitude stimulus intensity function. MIII–MVI is paralleled by an EEG recording so that psychomotor performance can be measured and EEG data under different activation conditions are available. Compliance with the recommendations guarantees the possibility of access to the common data pool. Computer software is available in Berlin.

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