Depression diagnosis based on electroencephalography power ratios

Abstract

BackgroundDepression is a common mental disorder that impacts millions of people across the world. However, its diagnosis is difficult due to the dependence on subjective testing. Although quantitative electroencephalography (EEG) has been investigated as a promising diagnostic tool for depression, the associated results have proven contradictory. The current study determines whether the alpha/beta (ABR), alpha/theta (ATR), and theta/beta (TBR) ratios can serve as biological markers of depression.MethodsWe used open‐access EEG data from OpenNeuro to investigate power ratios in the resting state of 46 patients with depression and 75 healthy controls. Spectral data were extracted by fast Fourier transform at the theta band (4–8 Hz), alpha band (8–13 Hz), and beta band (13–32 Hz). Neural network, logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic accuracies of each suggested index. Additionally, the cutoff point, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value at the maximized Youden index were compared for each variable.ResultsDecreased anterior frontal, frontal, central, parietal, occipital, and temporal ABR and decreased central and parietal TBR were observed in the depression group. The area under the curve of the ROC curves further revealed that these ratios could all effectively differentiate depression. In particular, the central, frontal, and parietal ABR exhibited high discrimination scores. Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the Beck Depression Inventory and Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory scores, as well as the probability of depression, increased with a decrease in the central ABR. Moreover, neural network analysis revealed that the global ABR was the most effective index for diagnosing depression among the three global EEG power ratios.ConclusionsThe central, frontal, and parietal ABR represent potential biomarkers to differentiate patients with depression from healthy controls.

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“…Higher TAR shows a person's ability to bring subconscious material into conscious awareness. 10 TBR is likely a stable electrophysiological marker of executive control 46 that can be decreased by anxious, distracting thoughts that impair working memory. 47 Jäncke and Alahmadi 20 reported high levels of TAR and TBR in the frontal region in children in LD-NOS.…”

“…People with low TAR often act out of subconscious motivations but have no idea where the behavior comes from. 10 A consistent line of research specifies the TBR and TAR as potential biomarkers for executive function, particularly attentional processing. 11,12 Higher TBR in the EEG among individuals with ADHD suggests affected cognitive processing involving executive cognitive control, specifically attentional control.…”

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“…Beta oscillation is linked to anticipation, anxiety, and internal controls, while theta oscillation indicates emotional processing. [10] Most of this research relies on coherence features derived from multi-electrode EEG data. It is uncertain whether combining single and multielectrode features can enhance the categorization of depressed patients and normal controls.…”