Topographic quantitative EEG amplitude in recovered alcoholics.

Topographic measures of electroencephalographic (EEG) amplitude were used to compare recovered alcoholics (n = 14) with sex- and age-matched control subjects. Delta, alpha, and beta activity did not distinguish the groups, but regional differences in theta distribution did. Recovered alcoholics showed more uniform distributions of theta amplitudes in bilateral anterior and posterior regions compared with controls. Because a minimum of 5 years had elapsed since the recovered alcoholic subjects fulfilled DSM-III-R criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence, it is unlikely these EEG theta differences reflect the effects of withdrawal.

Personality in recovered depressed elderly.

Personality traits in euthymic elderly subjects with and without past histories of major depressive episodes were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R and the Social Adjustment Scale-SR. Recovered depressed subjects were characterized by significantly more personality traits from DSM-III-R Clusters B and C than controls, and they exhibited differences in social adjustment, as well. Subjects who have recovered from depressive episodes may show significant differences in personality and social adjustment that might represent residua of past depression, a trait characteristic, or a risk factor for recurrence.

A pilot study of low-dose L-deprenyl in Alzheimer's disease.

The use of low-dose L-deprenyl, a selective MAO-B inhibitor, in Alzheimer's disease patients has been associated previously with improvements in agitation and episodic learning and memory. Behavioral, cognitive, and regional electroencephalogram (EEG) measures were obtained in a 4-week open pilot study of 14 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease by NINCDS criteria who were administered 10 mg L-deprenyl per day. L-Deprenyl administration was associated with significant improvements on the agitation and depression factors of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia, and spouses' blind ratings. Recall improved on the Buschke Selective Reminding Task, but intrusions also tended to increase; verbal fluency decreased. Absolute EEG delta measures were selectively suppressed in the right frontal region. The pattern of changes suggests that L-deprenyl may be associated with improvement in behavioral and cognitive performance, in part through a mild behavioral disinhibiting effect.

Fluvoxamine in the treatment of tricyclic-resistant depression.

Following an initial double-blind, randomized, parallel treatment group comparison of fluvoxamine, desipramine, and placebo in 89 outpatients with major depression at two centers, double-blind crossover to fluvoxamine was offered to 13 of 22 desipramine-treated completers of the initial phase who were considered failures on desipramine. Twelve elected to cross over to blinded fluvoxamine, and eleven continued on fluvoxamine for at least eight weeks. Nine of these eleven improved, and overall there was a statistically significant decrease in average Hamilton Depression Scores, from 24 to 13, for these fluvoxamine-treated desipramine-resistant patients.

Visual evoked potentials in dementia: a meta-analysis and empirical study of Alzheimer's disease patients.

A meta-analytic review of flash and pattern reversal visual evoked potential research indicates that elderly demented patients have longer P100 latencies than age-matched control subjects. In the present empirical research, patients with research diagnoses of probable Alzheimer's disease were compared with sex- and age-matched control subjects using P100 latencies of visual evoked potentials (VEP) elicited by flash and pattern reversal. As compared to control subjects, Alzheimer's disease patients showed significantly longer P100 latencies of the VEP elicited by pattern reversal; the flash P100 only marginally distinguished them. These findings are discussed within the context of VEP recording practices, patient selection, sex and age matching of control subjects, and the visual system.