The current status of electrophysiologic procedures for the assessment of mild traumatic brain injury.
METHODS
This review examines studies that used spontaneous electroencephalography (EEG), evoked potentials (EP), event-related potentials (ERP), and magnetoencephalography (MEG) to detect brain dysfunction in mild traumatic brain injured (MTBI) subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions are offered: (1) standard clinical EEG is not useful; however, newer analytical procedures may be proven valuable; (2) consistent with current theory of MTBI, cognitive ERPs seem to be more sensitive to injury than EPs; (3) development of an assessment battery that may include EEG, EPs, ERPs, and neuropsychologic testing is advocated.
Gaetz
M
M
Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. gaetz@sfu.ca
Bernstein
D M
DM
D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000379:methods; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices