Depression Severity, Slow- versus Fast-Wave Neural Activity, and Symptoms of Melancholia

Author(s)
Sharpley, Christopher F
Bitsika, Vicki
Evans, Ian D
Vessey, Kirstan A
Jesulola, Emmanuel
Agnew, L Agnew
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
<p>Depression Melancholia is a major and severe subtype of depression, with only limited data regarding its association with neurological phenomena. To extend the current understanding of how particular aspects of melancholia are correlated with brain activity, electroencephalographic data were collected from 100 adults (44 males and 56 females, all aged 18 y or more) and investigated for the association between symptoms of melancholia and the ratios of alpha/beta activity and theta/beta activity at parietal–occipital EEG sites PO1 and PO2. The results indicate differences in these associations according to the depressive status of participants and the particular symptom of melancholia. Depressed participants exhibited meaningfully direct correlations between alpha/beta and theta/beta activity and the feeling that "Others would be better off if I was dead" at PO1, whereas non-depressed participants had significant inverse correlations between theta/beta activity and "Feeling useless and not needed" and "I find it hard to make decisions" at PO1. The results are discussed in terms of the relative levels of fast-wave (beta) versus slow-wave (alpha, theta) activity exhibited by depressed and non-depressed participants in the parietal–occipital region and the cognitive activities that are relevant to that region.</p>
Citation
Brain Sciences, 14(6), p. 1-12
ISSN
2076-3425
Link
Publisher
MDPI AG
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
Title
Depression Severity, Slow- versus Fast-Wave Neural Activity, and Symptoms of Melancholia
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

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