T G Bolwig1, E S Hansen, A Hansen, H Merkin, L S Prichep. 1. Department of Psychiatry, The Neuroscience Center, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. bolwigtg@rh.dk
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the utility of three-dimensional source localization of the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) for the identification of the most probable underlying brain dysfunction in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHOD: Eyes-closed resting EEG data was recorded from the scalp locations of the International 10/20 System. Variable resolution electromagnetic tomography (VARETA) was applied to artifact-free EEG data. This mathematical algorithm estimates the source generators of EEG recorded from the scalp. RESULTS: An excess in the alpha range was found with sources in the corpus striatum, in the orbito-frontal and temporo-frontal regions in untreated OCD patients. This abnormality was seen to decrease following successful treatment with paroxetine. CONCLUSION: The VARETA findings of an activation/deactivation pattern in cortical and subcortical structures in paroxetine-responsive patients are in good accordance with data obtained in previously published positron emission tomography studies related to current hypotheses of a thalamo-striatal-frontal feedback loop being relevant for understanding the pathophysiology of OCD.
OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the utility of three-dimensional source localization of the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) for the identification of the most probable underlying brain dysfunction in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHOD: Eyes-closed resting EEG data was recorded from the scalp locations of the International 10/20 System. Variable resolution electromagnetic tomography (VARETA) was applied to artifact-free EEG data. This mathematical algorithm estimates the source generators of EEG recorded from the scalp. RESULTS: An excess in the alpha range was found with sources in the corpus striatum, in the orbito-frontal and temporo-frontal regions in untreated OCDpatients. This abnormality was seen to decrease following successful treatment with paroxetine. CONCLUSION: The VARETA findings of an activation/deactivation pattern in cortical and subcortical structures in paroxetine-responsive patients are in good accordance with data obtained in previously published positron emission tomography studies related to current hypotheses of a thalamo-striatal-frontal feedback loop being relevant for understanding the pathophysiology of OCD.
Authors: M-L Welter; P Burbaud; S Fernandez-Vidal; E Bardinet; J Coste; B Piallat; M Borg; S Besnard; P Sauleau; B Devaux; B Pidoux; P Chaynes; S Tézenas du Montcel; A Bastian; N Langbour; A Teillant; W Haynes; J Yelnik; C Karachi; L Mallet Journal: Transl Psychiatry Date: 2011-05-03 Impact factor: 6.222