Abstract
The EEG has been widely employed in the assessment of electrophysiological changes induced by distinct medications. Its sensibility in detecting alterations produced by a specific substance may be enhanced by methods of quantitative analyses (qEEG). The present study aimed at investigating the modulatory effects of bromazepam on brain dynamics. The effects of bromazepam (3 mg) on EEG power distribution were tested in 10 healthy individuals, in a double-blind experiment. The electrophysiological measure was analyzed across experimental conditions, moments, and electrodes, in the delta, theta, alpha and beta frequency bands separately. A significant decrease of relative power was observed in delta and theta (main effect of condition). No interactions were observed. Although the expected anxiolytic EEG profile was not observed (increased beta and decreased alpha activity), this specific result may be related to other factors such as dosage used and the subjects' general physiological state, and not necessarily to the drug itself.
Highlights
The investigation of cortical activity is essential for the understanding of the neural mechanisms related to psychoactive substances
Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used to monitor the effects of distinct medications on brain dynamics since cortical activity is responsive to the unique characteristics of psychoactive substances (Saletu et al 2002)
The analysis revealed significant main effects of condition [F(2,537) = 8.929; p = 0.000] and electrode site [F(5,534) = 18.205; p = 0.000]
Summary
The investigation of cortical activity is essential for the understanding of the neural mechanisms related to psychoactive substances. In this context, electroencephalography (EEG) has been used to monitor the effects of distinct medications on brain dynamics since cortical activity is responsive to the unique characteristics of psychoactive substances (Saletu et al 2002). The EEG sensibility in identifying changes produced by a specific substance may be improved by methods of quantitative analyses (qEEG) (Anghinah et al 2000, Veiga et al 2003). Once drugs have specific effects on wave morphology, changes in qEEG variables can be used to investigate ing bromazepam are practically inexistent in the current literature. Its mechanism of action on the Central Nervous System is believed to be related to the ability to enhance the activity of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter (Kopp et al 2004, Puga et al 2005)
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