title: Do prefrontal midline electrodes provide unique neurophysiologic information in Major Depressive Disorder?
abstract: Brain oscillatory activity from the midline prefrontal region has been shown to reflect brain dysfunction in subjects with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). It is not known, however, whether electrodes from this area provide unique information about brain function in MDD. We examined a set of midline sites and two other prefrontal locations for detecting cerebral activity differences between subjects with MDD and healthy controls. Resting awake quantitative EEG (qEEG) data were recorded from 168 subjects: 47 never-depressed adults and 121 with a current major depressive episode. Individual midline electrodes (Fpz, Fz, Cz, Pz, and Oz) and prefrontal electrodes outside the hairline (Fp1, Fp2) were examined with absolute and relative power and cordance in the theta band. We found that MDD subjects exhibited higher values of cordance (p = 0.0066) at Fpz than controls; no significant differences were found at other locations, and power measures showed trend-level differences. Depressed adults showed higher midline cordance than did never-depressed subjects at the most-anterior midline channel. Salient abnormalities in MDD may be detectable by focusing on the prefrontal midline region, and EEG metrics from focused electrode arrays may offer clinical practicality for clinical monitoring.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Depression Research & Clinic Program, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Brain Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, United States; Laboratory of Brain, Behavior, and Pharmacology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Brain Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, United States; Department of Bioengineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering & Applied Science, Los Angeles, CA, United States. Electronic address: cook@brain.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: UCLA Depression Research & Clinic Program, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Brain Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, United States; Laboratory of Brain, Behavior, and Pharmacology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Brain Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, United States.
authors.forename: Aimee M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: UCLA Depression Research & Clinic Program, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Brain Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, United States; Laboratory of Brain, Behavior, and Pharmacology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Brain Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, United States.
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Korb
authors.affiliation: UCLA Depression Research & Clinic Program, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Brain Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, United States; Laboratory of Brain, Behavior, and Pharmacology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Brain Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, United States.
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Leuchter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013057:Spectrum Analysis
keywords: Clinical monitoring; Depression; EEG; Neurophysiology; Prefrontal cortex