• Anxiety and mood
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2008

Objective : This study examined whether major depressive disorder patients with anxiety traits displayed abnormal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetries. Methods : Resting EEG was recorded in 11 outpatients with major depressive disorder (6 of whom had a high anxiety trait while 5 exhibited a low anxiety trait) and 6 controls. Results : In contrast to the controls, within the major depressive disorder patient group, comorbid anxiety disorder showed alpha asymmetry indicative of less activation over right than over left temporal sites. Patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder but no anxiety disorder showed a reduced temporal alpha asymmetry, supporting the potential importance of evaluating anxiety in studies of regional brain activation, in depressed patients. Conclusion : These findings suggest that anxiety is associated with brain hypoactivation, especially with right temporal hypoactivation.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.166-170
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• 2019

Objectives: Attentional and memory functions are important aspects of neural plasticity that, theoretically, should be amenable to pharmacopuncture treatments. A previous study from our laboratory suggested that quantitative electroencephalographic (qEEG) measurements of theta/beta ratio (TBR), an index of attentional control, may be indicative of academic performance in a first-semester medical school course. The present study expands our prior report by extracting and analyzing data on frontal theta and beta asymmetries. We test the hypothesis that the amount of frontal theta and beta asymmetries (fTA, fBA), are correlated with TBR and academic performance, thereby providing novel targets for pharmacopuncture treatments to improve cognitive performance. Methods: Ten healthy male volunteers were subjected to 5-10 min of qEEG measurements under eyes-closed conditions. The qEEG measurements were performed 3 days before each of first two block examinations in anatomy-physiology, separated by five weeks. Amplitudes of the theta and beta waveforms, expressed in ${\mu}V$, were used to compute TBR, fTA and fBA. Significance of changes in theta and beta EEG wave amplitude was assessed by ANOVA with post-hoc t-testing. Correlations between TBR, fTA, fBA and the raw examination scores were evaluated by Pearson's product-moment coefficients and linear regression analysis. Results: fTA and fBA were found to be negatively correlated with TBR (P<0.03, P<0.05, respectively) and were positively correlated with the second examination score (P<0.03, P=0.1, respectively). Conclusion: Smaller fTA and fBA were associated with lower academic performance in the second of two first-semester medical school anatomy-physiology block examination. Future studies should determine whether these qEEG metrics are useful for monitoring changes associated with the brain's cognitive adaptations to academic challenges, for predicting academic performance and for targeting phamacopuncture treatments to improve cognitive performance.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2007

Objectives : Studies have reported differences between depressed adults and controls in quantitative measures of EEG alpha asymmetry, but, there are few using Korean subjects. So, the present study compared EEG regional alpha asymmetries of patients having major depressive disorder(MDD) and normal controls. Methods : The subjects in this study were 11 unmedicated unipolar depressed patients and 11 non-depressed, age matched controls. Resting EEG(eyes closed and eyes open) was recorded from each participant using 8 scalp electrodes. Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HDRS), Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS) and Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI) were used to evaluate depression and anxiety symptoms. Results : The severities of depression measured by self-report questionnaires were positively associated with those of anxiety(state and trait) ; The subjects were both anxious and depressed. Anxious-depressed patients differed from controls in alpha asymmetry at T4 channels. They showed evidence of greater activation over right than left temporal site. Conclusion : These findings are consistent with the previousely reported alpha asymmetry of depressed patients with an anxiety disorder. The failure to find the evidence of reduced right parietal activity in depression is presumed to be due to opposing effects of comorbid anxiety on parietotemporal activity.