ABSTRACT
Fifteen healthy individuals and 17 patients with episodic exertional headaches were examined before and after treatment with citalopram using P300 event-related potentials. Unlike healthy controls, patients with headaches before treatment displayed an increase in P300 amplitude and the loss of its habituation, which correlated with a decrease in cognitive functions. The treatment lowered the degree of pain and vegetative syndromes, normalized P300 parameters, and improved cognitive functions. The use of P300 method may be an additional criterion of the effectiveness of therapy in patients with exertional headaches.
Subject(s)
Citalopram/therapeutic use , Evoked Potentials, Auditory/physiology , Headache Disorders, Primary/physiopathology , Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Acoustic Stimulation , Adult , Evoked Potentials, Auditory/drug effects , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Headache Disorders, Primary/drug therapy , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
To investigate psychophysiological features of panic disorder (PD) before and after treatment with citalopram, P300 auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 31 patients who met the DSM-IV criteria of PD and 24 age- and sex-matched normal controls. The ERPs were recorded during a standard two-tone discrimination task (oddball task). The treatment was conducted as a monotherapy during 6 weeks, with citalopram dosage of 20 mg/day. Compared to controls, patients differed significantly by the reduced P300 amplitude and the alteration of its habituation. These patients also demonstrated more pronounced anxiety, depression, autonomic dysfunction, alexithymia and attention insufficiency. High efficacy of the medication was detected in 80,7% of patients. The data obtained demonstrate disturbances of cognitive function in PD patients as well as qualitative psychoneurophysiologic differences of patients before and after the treatment which were most striking for the wave amplitude and for the alteration of its habituation. It is concluded that P300 evaluation may be used as a diagnostic tool and should be taken into account in the choice of effective therapy for PD patients.
Subject(s)
Cognition Disorders/etiology , Cognition Disorders/rehabilitation , Event-Related Potentials, P300/physiology , Panic Disorder/drug therapy , Panic Disorder/psychology , Adult , Citalopram/therapeutic use , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Panic Disorder/diagnosis , Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Severity of Illness Index , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Auditory event-related potentials P300 were studied in 44 patients with panic disorders (PD) and 23 normal controls. Compared to the controls, the patients differed significantly by the reduced P300 wave amplitude and alteration of its habituation. PD patients also demonstrated more pronounced anxiety, depression, autonomic dysfunction, hyperventilation and attention insufficiency. The patients with atypical PD differed from those with typical PD by reduced P300 wave amplitude, higher depression and lower personality anxiety levels. The data obtained demonstrate that cognitive function disturbances in PD patients as well as qualitative psychoneurophysiologic differences between patients with typical and atypical PD which were most striking for P300 wave amplitude and alteration of its habituation. Therefore, event-related potentials P300 method may be used as a diagnostic tool and should be taken into account in deciding on therapy.
