[EEG frequency analyses in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive neuroses]

A controlled clinical study was conducted of 25 girls and boys (mean age: 12;7 years) with obsessive-compulsive disorders and 26 patients (mean age: 13;4 years) with other neurotic disorders. None of the subjects had any organic brain disorders. The question addressed was whether there are any EEG findings specific to the group of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorders, as several authors have reported. The EEG frequency analyses (power spectra) showed abnormal findings (fronto-temporal dysfunction and/or electrobiologically delayed maturation) in two thirds of the subjects with obsessive syndromes. The difference between the two groups was not significant, however. Thus the hypothesis of specific EEG patterns in obsessive-compulsive disorders could not be supported.