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Patterns of Feedback EEG Responsivity and Control in Depressed Patients
Author(s) -
Danesino Angelo,
Mclaughlin Thomas,
Burke William,
Schneck Paul
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1982.tb02602.x
Subject(s) - habituation , psychology , audiology , electroencephalography , orienting response , developmental psychology , neuroscience , medicine
Habituation of the alpha‐blocking component of the orienting response (OR) was evaluated in depressed patients and normals. The method of feedback electroencephalography was used to elicit and control the OR. It was predicted that the depressed patients would show reduced initial ORs to visual stimuli compared to normals. The response of the patients to emotional verbal stimuli (related to their conflicts) was predicted to be more variable than the response to non‐conflict words, compared to normals. The results indicated that depressed patients are less responsive than normals for the initial few presentations of visual stimuli. The hypothesis about greater response variability by depressives to emotionally significant words was partially confirmed, i.e., the response variability was increased for one of the two verbal stimuli. The study demonstrated that feedback EEG experiments and clinical assessments can be reliably carried out in a non‐laboratory setting.