title: Increased occipital delta dipole density in major depressive disorder determined by magnetoencephalography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that there is increased low-frequency activity located predominantly in the frontal lobe in patients with major depressive disorder using magnetoencephalography.
  
  
  METHODS
  We carried out an unmatched or separate sampling case-control study of 31 medication-free patients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), criteria for major depressive disorder and were outpatients of the Hospital Central de la Defensa, Madrid, and 22 healthy control subjects with no history of mental illness. A logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the predictive value of magnetoencephalography dipole density scores in the diagnosis of depression. We attempted to locate generators of focal magnetic slow waves by employing a single moving dipole model and by calculating dipole densities in prefrontal, frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital areas. The study lasted from February 2001 to January 2003.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 2 dipole density scores, right occipital delta and left temporal delta, were significantly related to depression. According to the comparison of univariate and multivariate models and odds ratios, the right occipital delta dipole density is the factor with the greatest predictive power for depression, and the only one to show a significant correlation with severity of depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We did not find any frontal lobe functional alteration. Our study provides, to the best of our knowledge, the first evidence of abnormal focal magnetic low-frequency activity in the occipital lobe of untreated patients with depression. Increased occipital lobe delta dipole density seems to be a reliable risk factor for depression, which correlates with disease severity according to the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.
authors.affiliation: Centro MEG Dr. Pérez Modrego, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Palancas
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López-Ibor
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zuluaga
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turrero
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maestú
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amo
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: López-Ibor
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ortiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003700:Delta Rhythm; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004585:Electrooculography; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires