Sertindole: EEG Analysis, Tolerability, and Clinical Efficacy.

INTRODUCTION: One of the common side effects of antipsychotic drugs is excessive sedation. The treatment with antipsychotics often manifests as an increase in slow wave activity in electroencephalography (EEG). The aim of this study was to analyze EEG recordings of patients treated with a non-sedative antipsychotic drug sertindole with regard to its adverse effects and clinical efficacy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: EEG recordings of 45 patients (27 females, mean age 30.1±8.7 years) with schizophrenia were analyzed. EEG recordings were categorized based on abnormalities severity. The clinical efficacy was rated on the Clinical Global Impression Scale. RESULTS: Abnormalities from mild to moderate were found in 29% of the group. Clinical improvement was observed in 80% of patients. Sedation/daytime sleepiness was present in 7% of patients. Other side effects were prolongation of QTc (11%, severe 4%), insomnia (9%), extrapyramidal symptoms (7%), and heart palpitations (2%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated with sertindole do not show side effects similar to those found during treatment with other antipsychotic drugs. Increased slow wave activity in EEG and sedation were absent in the majority of the investigated patients.

[The empirical mode decomposition and Lempel-Ziv complexity. The new possibility in diagnosis of EEG in schizophrenic patients?]. / Empiryczna dekompozycja modalna i metoda zlozonosci Lempel-Ziv'a. Nowa mozliwosc w diagnostyce EEG chorych na schizofrenie?

BACKGROUND: Over the last few decades, numerous attempts have been made to identify electroencephalographic (EEG) manifestations of schizophrenia. However, clinical applicability of these studies has not been demonstrated. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A novel approach to EEG analysis which is based on combination of two methods of time series analysis was presented. Empirical mode decomposition is used to decompose a signal into several independent mode functions (IMF). Then, Lempel-Ziv complexity is used to quantify variability of such modes. We dub this approach EMD-LZC analysis. We carry out EMD-LZC analysis of EEG (performed according to 10-20 standard) of 21 healthy volunteers and 19 schizophrenic patients who were not medicated for at least a week. RESULTS: We find that variability of the third IMF mode is lower in the patients. The statistically significant differences were observed in 14 channels. Interestingly enough, the Fourier power spectra of both cohorts were not statistically different in any of 19 EEG channels. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike traditional spectral analysis, the combination of empirical mode decomposition and Lempel-Ziv complexity enabled us to identify the properties of EEG that are affected by schizophrenia. The future, more extensive, studies should verify the applicability of the proposed algorithm to diagnostics of schizophrenia. Moreover, we would like to link the observed differences in EEG variability to the pathogenesis of this disease.

[The use of event related potentials in psychiatric research]. / Zastosowanie badan potencjalów wywolanych zwiazanych z wydarzeniami poznawczymi w psychiatrii.

BACKGROUND: Event related potentials (ERPs) originate predominantly from cortical structures in response to information processing. In contrast to evoked potentials of short latency (<100 ms), long latency cognitive ERPs are not directly related to the physical characteristics of the stimulus, but rather to the information and meaning that the stimulus has for the investigated person. AIM: The aim of this review article was to present selected research questions in psychiatry that can be addressed with ERP studies. As examples we used studies performed in patients with schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS: ERPs can be recorded during well established cognitive tests in psychiatry: go-no go, n-back, continuous performance test (CPT), Wisconsin card sorting test, Stroop test, verbal learning test and many others. Several ERP components are used as endophenotypes in genetic psychiatric research. CONCLUSIONS: ERPs can be also useful in clinic related questions: identification of subject at high-risk of psychosis, assessment of attention deficits or selective attention problems in anxiety disorders, evaluation of early response to psychopharmacological treatment and efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions.