MULTILEAD QUANTITATIVE EEG PROFILE OF CLOZAPINE IN RESTING AND VIGILANCE-CONTROLLED CONDITIONS

Clozapine is the prototype of a new class of drugs, referred to as 'at ypical antipsychotics'. As a matter of fact, the antipsychotic activit y of the drug was not predicted by the first studies with quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG), which actually reported an antidepress ant pattern. All previous QEEG studies carried out in healthy subjects used a maximum of four leads, exploring only the posterior quadrants of the scalp. The present article reports findings of a multilead QEEG study carried out in 16 healthy men under resting and vigilance-contr olled conditions. Increases in slow (delta, theta, and alpha,) and dec reases in fast (alpha, and beta) activities were found, corresponding to changes described for chlorpromazine-type antipsychotics. These res ults are compared with those of earlier studies. It is suggested that changes in the beta frequency range vary across subjects, whereas chan ges in slow and alpha activity are more consistent and critical for de fining the QEEG profile of the drug.