Decrease alpha waves in depression: An electroencephalogram(EEG) study

Abstract

There was no affirm study that differentiates the brainwaves between depression subjects and healthy subjects until today. Hyperactivity and low activity of the brain activities in various parts and regions could be evaluated and studied though the brainwaves measured from the electroencephalogram (EEG). The losing ability of the brain to transmit signals and information that caused a person to be depressed makes a person influences their normal daily activities. Depression is a mood disorder which may affect our daily work, sleep, eating habits and general health. Therefore, it is a general term and commonly infected by anyone. The aim of this study was to determine the differences of alpha waves between normal and depression groups. Throughout the research, depression screening measurements of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were taken into accounts in order to identify the normal and depression groups. A total of 4 normal subjects and 4 depressed subjects participated in this study. A 32 channels EEG was used to detect the difference of alpha waves in depression and normal groups. The alpha waves in depression group were found out to be lower compared to the normal group in both close eyes and open eyes conditions. The T-Test statistical analysis shown that there were significant differences in the alpha-1 waves in close eyes condition and alpha 1 and alpha-2 waves in the open eyes condition for depression group. In addition, the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and temporal lobe had found out to have much lower alpha waves in the depression group compared to the normal group. In short, by measuring the alpha waves of a person using EEG may be a biomarker in differentiating a healthy or depressed person in the future.