Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is recognized as a disorder affecting children and adolescents and has more recently been documented to continue into adulthood in a proportion of patients. One of the common treatments for AD/HD is the use of stimulant medications. Numerous studies have examined the therapeutic effects of stimulant medications in children, adolescents and adults with the disorder, reporting improvements in attention, concentration, and hyperactive and impulsive behaviours. Several studies have also examined the effects of stimulants on the electroencephalograph (EEG) of children and adolescents with the disorder, but to date, there have been no studies examining the effects of stimulant medication on the EEG of adults with AD/HD. In the present study, we aimed to replicate previous EEG findings in adults with AD/HD relative to controls and to examine whether there was any change in this profile following treatment with dexamphetamine. The EEG was recorded at rest in an eyes-open condition from 50 adults diagnosed with AD/HD and assessed as good responders to treatment, both before and after treatment with dexamphetamine, and 50 control subjects. The pre-medication results are similar to those found in previous research that compared the EEGs of adults with AD/HD and control subjects. Following medication, there was a significant reduction in slow wave activity in the AD/HD group to levels similar to those in the control group. These results suggest that changes in brain function of good responders to dexamphetamine, as reflected in the EEG, may underlie the behavioural improvements observed in the clinical setting.

Quantitative EEG analysis in dexamphetamine-responsive adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Free copper and resting temporal EEG rhythms correlate across healthy, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease subjects.

Effects of ICV administration of neurotensin and analogs on EEG in rats.

A long existing hypothesis, i.e. that the EEG effects, in lead O2A2, of typical psychotropic drugs are substance class specific, when given as single oral dosages to healthy volunteers, is discussed. Using the technique of pharmacoelectroencephalograhpy, five typical representatives of neuroleptics, anxiolytics, antidepressives, psychostimulants (Fig. 2) as well as placebo were investigated in 75 volunteers, each receiving one representative of each substance class in a double blind 5-fach change over latin square design (Fig. 3). A five minute EEG record for lead O2A2 was obtained pre, 1 h and 3 hrs post drug intake unter RR (Relaxed Recording) conditions. Typical samples of th EEG records are shown in Figs. 4--7. Parametrisation was done using power spectrum analysis. Then 3 x 7 target variables were formed--six relative power values in predetermined frequency bands and the total power between 1.5 and 30.0 Hz for 3 occasions of measurement (Fig. 4--7). Using a (five-group) linear discriminant analysis the substance effects on the EEG were transformed into 5 probability measures for the five substance classes (Fig. 4--7). The present paper should provide a demonstration of some typical examples, using single subjects, of the projection of substance effects onto an electrophysiological level using a vector of 21 components (7 target variables for 3 occasions of measurement) as can be seen from Table 1. Furthermore, the transformation into probability measures of the five substance classes are shown in Table 2. Table 3 shows five examples of projections of substance effects, which do not fit into the classifications to which they belong. An attempt is made to explain, whether single target variables from the power spectrum can contribute differently to the discrimination between single substances of different substance classes. Within the accepted system of 4 psychotropic drug classes, the following variables seem to be of importance: a) The benzodiazepine anxiolytics show a marked increase in beta F1 (12.0--18.0 Hz) power and activity and, related to sedation, an increase in delta F-power and a decrease in alpha-power; b) The psychostimulants of the amphetamine type show an increase in total power and alpha-power, an increase in the power of the frequency ranges near to the alpha-band (slow beta, fast theta) and a decrease in delta F (1.5--5.5 Hz)-power, when delta F-power is high in the pre-values, indicating a stabilization in vigilance; c) The neuroleptics show a marked increase in theta F (5.5--8.5 Hz)-power, some increase in the delta F--and a decrease in the beta F1-and beta F3-power; d) Tricyclic antidepressants show an interaction between delta F-theta F-, alpha- and beta-power, in the sense of a dissociative shift in vigilance.

Kubicki S

Papers

[The use of electrophysiological techniques to project typical psychotropic drug effects: some examples (author's transl)].