EEG profile studies of clozapine in volunteers and psychiatric patients.

Among the newer psychoactive compounds, clozapine is classified by some authors as an antipsychotic compound, but it exhibits differences in pharmacology and clinical effects that clearly distinguish it from established antipsychotic compounds. It represents an anomaly in the EEG classification scheme as well. In normal volunteers and in psychotic patients, it elicits EEG effects that are more like those of sedative thymoleptic antidepressants than the established antipsychotic compounds. It is probable that the antipsychotic activity reported by some observers reflected the sedative qualities of the compound and not a prototypic antipsychotic activity. Further testing in other psychiatric populations, particularly patients with depressive illnesses, is warranted.