Alpha frequency in schizophrenia: an association with enlarged cerebral ventricles

Low alpha frequency (less than 10.2 Hz) occurred more frequently in medication-free schizophrenic patients than in normal control subjects, as determined by quantitative EEG analysis. Furthermore, those patients with low alpha frequency had significantly larger lateral ventricles, as measured by CT...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American journal of psychiatry Vol. 145; no. 7; p. 861
Main Authors Karson, C N, Coppola, R, Daniel, D G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.07.1988
Subjects
Adult
Alpha Rhythm
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Brain - pathology
Brain - physiopathology
Cerebral Ventricles - pathology
Dilatation, Pathologic
Female
Humans
Male
Schizophrenia - diagnosis
Schizophrenia - pathology
Schizophrenia - physiopathology
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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Summary:Low alpha frequency (less than 10.2 Hz) occurred more frequently in medication-free schizophrenic patients than in normal control subjects, as determined by quantitative EEG analysis. Furthermore, those patients with low alpha frequency had significantly larger lateral ventricles, as measured by CT scan, than did other schizophrenic patients (mean +/- SD ventricle-brain ratios = 9.8 +/- 1.9 versus 5.0 +/- 2.4; p less than 0.01). This finding suggests the existence of a relationship between cerebral structural pathology and the alpha rhythm that may be based on involvement of alpha-generating structures which border the cerebral ventricles. Future EEG studies of schizophrenia may resolve these questions in the context of other brain findings.
ISSN:0002-953X
DOI:10.1176/ajp.145.7.861