QEEG ALPHA1 CHANGES AFTER A SINGLE-DOSE OF HIGH-POTENCY NEUROLEPTICS AS A PREDICTOR OF SHORT-TERM RESPONSE TO TREATMENT IN SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS

Baseline quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) characteristics a nd their changes after a single test dose of either haloperidol or clo penthixol were investigated in a group of 29 schizophrenics as possibl e predictors of short-term response to those drugs. On baseline QEEG a ssessment, responders (R) to subsequent treatment showed fewer slow an d more fast activities than nonresponders (NR). A large overlap betwee n R and NR with respect to these measures was observed, however, revea ling their practical inadequacy to predict short-term response in indi vidual patients. On the contrary, changes in alpha1, observed 6 hr aft er the administration of a single test dose of either haloperidol or c lopenthixol, discriminated to a very large extent between R and NR, co rrectly identifying 17 out of 18 R and 8 out of 10 NR. The QEEG test d ose procedure might be used in the selection of the most appropriate a ntipsychotic drug for individual schizophrenic patients.