title: Electroencephalographic asymmetries in adolescents with major depression: influence of comorbidity with anxiety disorders.
abstract: This study examined whether adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) display the abnormal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetries found in depressed adults. Resting EEG was recorded in 25 right-handed female outpatients (19 with MDD, 11 of whom also had a current anxiety disorder; 6 with anxiety disorders only) and 10 non-ill controls. In contrast to the non-ill controls, adolescents having MDD but no anxiety disorder showed alpha asymmetry indicative of less activation over right than over left posterior sites. Within the MDD patient group, comorbid anxiety disorders reduced the posterior alpha asymmetry, supporting the potential importance of evaluating anxiety in studies of regional brain activation in adolescent MDD. These preliminary findings are similar to those from adult studies that suggest that MDD is associated with right parietotemporal hypoactivation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry, Unit 74, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10032-3784, USA. Kentgenl@child.cpmc.columbia.edu
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kentgen
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Tenke
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Bruder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values