ON THE CHOICE OF RECORDING DURATION IN PHARMACO-EEG STUDIES

Quantitative EEG is a sensitive method used to assess the effects of p harmacological substances on the central nervous system (CNS) activity . A standard technique is to measure the EEG under vigilance-controlle d and resting conditions for a short duration, for example 5 min. The aim of the present study was to investigate the stability of 5-min EEG recordings. While the time course of the EEG was fairly stable during the recording session under the vigilance-controlled condition, syste matic trends became apparent under the resting condition. Pharmaco-sen sitivity of the EEG and its reliability increased with the recording d uration. Five minutes of EEG recording seem to be sufficient and well chosen to evaluate the influence of drugs on the EEG.