Changes in electrical brain activity in patients with panic disorders

Brain electrical activity was recorded in 38 patients with typical and in 42 patients with atypical panic disorders, also in 30 normal controls. Compared to controls, patients both with typical and with atypical panic disorders differed significantly in reduced spectral power of the EEG alpha band in the right hemisphere. Moreover, in patients with typical panic disorders, the spectral power of the EEG betal band was increased in the frontal, temporal, central, and parietal areas of the right hemisphere. In patients with atypical panic disorders, the spectral power of the theta band was increased in the temporal areas of the right hemisphere. The changes in the EEG activity in patients with typical panic disorders are supposed to reflect an increase in activity of non-specific systems of the mesencephalic reticular formation, and the EEG changes in patients with atypical panic attacks may be associated with increased activity of the temporolimbic brain structures.