Higher frontal EEG synchronization in young women with major depression: a marker for increased homeostatic sleep pressure?

Study objectives: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is often associated with disturbances in circadian and/or sleep-wake dependent processes, which both regulate daytime energy and sleepiness levels.

Design: Analysis of continuous electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings during 40 h of extended wakefulness under constant routine conditions. Artifact-free EEG samples derived from 12 locations were subjected to spectral analysis. Additionally, half-hourly ratings of subjective tension and sleepiness levels and salivary melatonin measurements were collected.

Setting: Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospitals of the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Participants: Eight young healthy women and 8 young untreated women with MDD.

Interventions: N/A.

Measurements and results: MDD women exhibited higher frontal low-frequency (FLA) EEG activity (0.5-5.0 Hz) during extended wakefulness than controls, particularly during the night. Enhanced FLA was paralleled by higher levels of subjective sleepiness and tension. In MDD women, overall FLA levels correlated positively with depression scores. The timing of melatonin onset did not significantly differ between the two groups, but the nocturnal secretion of salivary melatonin was significantly attenuated in MDD women.

Conclusions: Our data imply that young women with MDD live on a higher homeostatic sleep pressure level, as indexed by enhanced FLA during wakefulness. Its positive correlation with depression scores indicates a possible functional relationship. High FLA could reflect a use-dependent phenomenon in depression (enhanced cognitive rumination or tension) and/or an attenuated circadian arousal signal.