title: [Relationship between dexamethasone suppression test and contingent negative variation in major depressive patients].
abstract: We tried to relate two different indexes sensitive to the perturbations induced by major depression: the Dexamethasone Suppression Test or DST (Caroll, 1982) and the Contingent Negative Variation (CNV). The question was whether abnormalities in cortisol levels, following dexamethasone would enlight the modifications observed in CNV parameters and other electrophysiological indexes (EEG spectrum, reaction time). In 61 major depressive patients, 29 being DST-non-suppressors, we calculated differences in electrophysiological variables according to DST suppression or not, but we were not able to evidence significant differences between the groups. However, there were correlations between log-transformed levels of cortisol and on the one hand, CNV slope (r = -0.34, P less than 0.03) and on the other hand, reaction time (r = 0.45, P less than 0.01). Correlations between electrophysiological variables appeared in the sole suppressors group (e.g. CNV amplitude and alpha rythm reactivity; post-imperative variation and percent beta of the EEG spectrum). These results underline the complementary aspect of the two methods.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de neurophysiologie clinique et de psycho-pharmacologie, Université de Liège, Belgique.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mantanus
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ansseau
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Legros
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Timsit-Berthier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003907:Dexamethasone; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone; D006854:Hydrocortisone
vernacular_title: Relation entre le test de suppression à la dexaméthasone et la variation contingente négative chez des patients déprimés majeurs.