ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC FINDINGS IN AGED PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS1

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Abstract
Electroencephalograms were recorded on 103 psychiatric patients between 65 and 94 years of age. Forty-five of these presented clear cut evidence of brain syndrome; another 45 suffered from functional disorders; the remaining 13 had an equivocal psychiatric picture. A high incidence of diffuse slow wave activity (delta and theta) was found in the brain syndrome group. The functional cases, on the other hand, had a significant number of normal tracings. Uncomplicated focal slowing did not appear to be related to psychiatric diagnosis. Localization of focal abnormalities was predominantly anterior, with more frequent involvement of the left hemisphere. Nearly all patients with cerebral vascular disease or congestive heart failure showed eeg abnormalities. However, the eeg was not related to generalized arteriosclerosis or to the presence of cardiac disorders that were adequately compensated. There was a tendency for cases of mild hypertension to have normal tracings. Outcome of illness was related to both psychiatric diagnosis and eeg findings. A significant proportion of patients with brain syndrome and diffuse slow waves remained in the hospital or died within a year. The majority of patients with functional disorders and normal eeg''s were discharged or placed on convalescent status. The above findings are in general agreement with, several earlier studies. The implications of this work for geriatric psychiatry are discussed.

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