Event-related potentials in psychiatry.
Electrophysiological assessments of psychiatric disorders have produced a number of promising, highly replicable findings and thus carry the potential of becoming clinically utilizable in the diagnostic or prognostic evaluation of psychopathological conditions. The procedures involved are rather complex technically and the interpretation of the findings require a combined neurophysiological and clinical expertise. On the other hand, electrophysiological techniques are in general non-invasive and relatively inexpensive, and neurophysiology laboratories are widely available in the clinical setting. Among these techniques, event-related potentials (ERPs) are of major interest in psychiatry, particularly since these tools can indicate cortical neuronal dysfunctions, which play a major role in various neuropsychiatric disorders.
Pogarell
Oliver
O
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Clinical Neurophysiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany. oliver.pogarell@med.uni-muenchen.de
Mulert
Christoph
C
Hegerl
Ulrich
U
D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*