Pharmacopsychiatry 2003; 36 - 153
DOI: 10.1055/s-2003-825404

Pharmaco-EEG-monitoring predicts antipsychotic efficacy of atypical antipsychotic drugs

H Kleinlogel 1, G Wirtz 1, T Dierks 1
  • 1Dept. of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, University Hospital of Clinical Psychiatry, Bern, Switzerland

Since Pharmaco-EEG has been suggested to predict the psychotherapeutic efficacy of antipsychotic drugs (1,2) we installed pharmaco-EEG-monitoring within the clinical routine to increase the efficacy and safety of the pharmcotherapy in individual patients. Here we investigated the predictability of pharmaco-EEG for the clinical outcome in never medicated first episode psychotic patients receiving quetiapine (N=5), olanzapin (N=1) or clozapin (N=1; 2.episode). 21 channel resting EEG and psychopathology were recorded at day 0 (without medication), day1, day7 and day28 after drug treatment. Psychopathology was rated using the PANSS Scale at the same day as the EEG recording. EEG- and PANSS-parameters were correlated.

The results confirm, that the improvement of positive symptomatology and depressive score (but not negative symptomatology!) was preceded by a decrease of the mean frequency and beta-power, and an increase of theta- and alpha2-power, respectively, indicating the usefulness of pharmaco-EEG-monitoring in clinical routine.

1) Itil T. et al.:J.Nerv.Ment.Dis.160 (1975) 188–203.

2) Galderisi S. et al.: Biol. Psychiatry 35 (1994) 367–374.