An EEG signature of suicidal behavior in female patients with major depressive disorder? A non-replication

• Published in: Biological psychology 2021-04, Vol.161, p.108058-108058, Article 108058
• Main Authors: Krepel, Noralie, Benschop, Lars, Baeken, Chris, Sack, Alexander T., Arns, Martijn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Depressive Disorder, Major; Electroencephalogram (EEG); Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Replication; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide; Suicide, Attempted
• ISSN: 0301-0511; 1873-6246
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108058

•A prior study reported frontal beta/gamma hypoactivity as a biomarker for suicide risk.•It was attempted to replicate this finding using the iSPOT-D sample.•The original result could not be replicated, possibly due to EMG contamination. A recent study showed hypoactivity in the beta/gamma band in female suicide ideators and suicide attempters diagnosed with depression, relative to a low-risk group. The current study aimed to conceptually replicate these results. In the iSPOT-D sub-sample (n = 402), suicide ideators and low-risk individuals were identified. Confining analyses to females only, differences between low-risk individuals and suicide ideators were tested for using the electroencephalogram (EEG) frequency bands SMR (Sensori-Motor-Rhythm; 12−15 Hz), beta (14.5−30 Hz), beta I (14.5−20 Hz), beta II (20−25 Hz), beta III (25−30 Hz), gamma I (31−49 Hz) using LORETA-software. None of the tested frequency bands showed to be significantly different between suicide ideators and low-risk individuals. The current study could not conceptually replicate the earlier published results. Several reasons could explain this non-replication, among which possible electromyographic (EMG) contamination in the beta/gamma band in the original study. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00693849. URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00693849.