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The loudness dependence of the auditory evoked potential (LDAEP) as a predictor of the response to escitalopram in patients with generalized anxiety disorder

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Abstract

Rationale

The loudness dependence of the auditory evoked potential (LDAEP) has been proposed as a potential biological marker of central serotonergic activity. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the LDAEP can be used to predict the response to escitalopram in patients with GAD.

Method

Twenty-five patients with GAD were recruited. Scores on the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale (CGI-S), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were evaluated. To evaluate the LDAEP, the auditory event-related potential was measured before beginning medication. Peak-to-peak N1/P2 amplitudes and current source densities were calculated at five stimulus intensities, and the LDAEP was calculated as the linear-regression slope. The current source densities of the evoked potentials were analyzed by standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA). The loudness dependence of the current densities (sLORETA-LDAEP) was also calculated.

Results

The pretreatment LDAEPs of all patients were positively correlated with the CGI-S response rates at 4 and 8 weeks, and with the HAM-A and BAI response rates at 8 weeks. The sLORETA-LDAEPs were positively correlated with the HAM-A response rates after 8 weeks of treatment. The HAM-A and CGI response rates at 8 weeks were higher in patients with a strong pretreatment LDAEP than in those with a weak LDAEP.

Conclusions

The present study revealed that GAD patients with a favorable response to escitalopram treatment are characterized by a stronger pretreatment LDAEP. Measurement of the LDAEP appears to provide useful clinical information for predicting treatment responses in patients with GAD.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by an unrestricted educational grant from H. Lundbeck A/S, who were neither responsible for creation of the study protocol, the data analysis, data interpretation, nor writing of the manuscript. The authors thank Eung-Kyung Jo and Jeong-In Kim for their assistance with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Ilsan-Paik Hospital, Inje University, 2240 Daehwa-dong, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang, 411-706, Republic of Korea

    Young-Min Park & Seung-Hwan Lee

  2. Clinical Emotion and Cognition Research Laboratory, 2240 Daehwa-dong, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang, 411-706, Republic of Korea

    Young-Min Park, Do-Won Kim, Sangrae Kim & Seung-Hwan Lee

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea

    Do-Won Kim & Chang-Hwan Im

  4. Graduate Program in Cognitive Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Sangrae Kim

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  1. Young-Min Park
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  2. Do-Won Kim
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Correspondence to Seung-Hwan Lee.

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Park, YM., Kim, DW., Kim, S. et al. The loudness dependence of the auditory evoked potential (LDAEP) as a predictor of the response to escitalopram in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Psychopharmacology 213, 625–632 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2061-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2061-y

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