[Can neurophysiologic tests differentiate between depression and dementia?]

In order to evaluate the clinical utility of neuro-physiological tests in distinguishing between depression and dementia, we compared quantified EEG and event-related potentials (ERP) in 13 depressed and 12 demented patients. Their cognitive functions were clinically assessed by the ERFC test. When scored with a discriminant function, EEG misclassified one patient and all were well classified with ERP. Nevertheless this exam could be clearly obtained in only 7 demented and 5 depressed patients. Although a therapeutic effect could not be absolutely discarded, these results show that these tests, when practicable, can be helpful when clinical diagnosis is uncertain.