EEG biomarkers in major depressive disorder: Discriminative power and prediction of treatment response

Sebastian Olbrich*, Martijn Arns

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has high population prevalence and is associated with substantial impact on quality of life, not least due to an unsatisfactory time span of sometimes several weeks from initiation of treatment to clinical response. Therefore extensive research focused on the identification of cost-effective and widely available electroencephalogram (EEG)-based biomarkers that not only allow distinguishing between patients and healthy controls but also have predictive value for treatment response for a variety of treatments. In this comprehensive overview on EEG research on MDD, biomarkers that are either assessed at baseline or during the early course of treatment and are helpful in discriminating patients from healthy controls and assist in predicting treatment outcome are reviewed, covering recent decades up to now. Reviewed markers include quantitative EEG (QEEG) measures, connectivity measures, EEG vigilance-based measures, sleep-EEG-related measures and event-related potentials (ERPs). Further, the value and limitations of these different markers are discussed. Finally, the need for integrated models of brain function and the necessity for standardized procedures in EEG biomarker research are highlighted to enhance future research in this field.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)604-618
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Review of Psychiatry
Volume25
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • AUDITORY-EVOKED-POTENTIALS
  • EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS
  • ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC SLEEP PROFILES
  • ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX
  • SLOW-WAVE ACTIVITY
  • NON-REM SLEEP
  • LOUDNESS DEPENDENCE
  • CLINICAL-RESPONSE
  • ALPHA ASYMMETRY
  • ANTIDEPRESSANT RESPONSE

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