EEG Vigilance Profile as a Supplement of Psychiatric Data

Abstract

A vigilance measurement based on EEG spectra was employed to supplement the clinical data. In an experimental situation when the patient was left undisturbed after a standard stimulation, four typical patterns were observed. Besides the normal profile, a ‘somnolent pattern’ with pronounced vigilance decrease and an ‘unquiet pattern’ with high variance could be seen in treated and in untreated schizophrenic patients, respectively. A combination of both characteristics occurred in depressive patients with symptoms such as agitation, tension, and hypochondria. The outcome of treatment was predictable in the patients with a ‘mixed pattern’, while the drug effect was unpredictable in other patients with the same diagnosis.

Long-Term Influences on Demented Patients in Different Caring Milieus, a Collective Living Unit and a Nursing Home: A Descriptive Study

“…They also showed reduced values of depression, seemed to adapt somewhat better to the place of living than the NH group, and had better appetites. The improvement of the alpha/delta ratio in the CL group might be a sign of a higher vigilance which is shown to diminish the amount of slow waves in the EEG [23] and is similar to the scores concerning impaired attention rated by the GBS scale.…”

Effect of Drugs Acting on Monoaminergic and Cholinergic Systems on the Quantified EEG of Rats

“…In an attempt to automatically measure vigilance level and its application to drug ef fects in man, Matousek [1983] and Matousek and Pe tersen [ 1979] have declared that it is in fact impossible to isolate a 'pure' drug effect without contamination by EEG changes due to drowsiness. A whole complex of clinical and EEG data must therefore be considered in each individual case.…”