HZI systems for EEG parametrization and classification of psychotropic drugs

The EEG effects of twenty, clinically most frequently used psychotropic drugs and five placebos were studied in 75 male volunteers in five simultaneously designed basic studies. In each of the five studies single oral dosages of five drugs (well known representatives of neuroleptics, antidepressants, anxiolytics and psychostimulants, as well as placebos) were investigated in 15 subjects in a double-blind latin-square research design using the methods of the Quantitative Pharmaco-EEG. The results demonstrated that the therapeutically equivalent effective compounds also have similar effects on human EEG. With a classification rule, based on discriminant function 20, and with a classification rule, based on correlation statistics 19 of 25 compounds could be reclassified into correct clinical-therapeutic psychotropic drug groups. It is suggested that CEEG is an important tool in predicting and describing psychotropic properties of compounds, and should routinely be used in psychotropic drug development.