Objectives: This study tested the hypothesis that patients with depression show less and later declines into lower EEG vigilance stages (different global functional brain states) under resting conditions than healthy controls, as proposed by the vigilance theory of affective disorders.
Methods: Thirty patients with Major Depressive Disorder (19 female; mean age: 37.2 years, SD: 12.6) without psychotropic medication and 30 carefully age- and sex-matched controls (19 female; mean age: 37.3 years, SD: 12.8) without past or present mental disorders underwent a 15-min resting EEG. EEG-vigilance regulation was determined with a computer-based vigilance classification algorithm (VIGALL, Vigilance Algorithm Leipzig), allowing a classification of vigilance stages A (with substages A1, A2 and A3), B (with substages B1 and B2/3) and C.
Results: Depressive patients spent significantly more time in the highest EEG vigilance substage A1, and less time in substages A2, A3 and B2/3 than controls. In depressive patients, a significantly longer latency until the occurrence of substages A2, A3 and B2/3 was observed. No significant group differences in the percentage of B1 segments or the latency until occurrence of B1 were found.
Conclusions: The results confirm the hypothesis that patients with depression show less (and later) declines into lower EEG vigilance stages under resting conditions than healthy controls, and support the vigilance theory of affective disorders linking a hyperstable vigilance regulation to depression.