EEG Microstate Analysis in Drug-Naive Patients with Panic Disorder

Patients with panic disorder (PD) have a bias to respond to normal stimuli in a fearful way. This may be due to the preactivation of fear-associated networks prior to stimulus perception. Based on EEG, we investigated the difference between patients with PD and normal controls in resting state activity using features of transiently stable brain states (microstates). EEGs from 18 drug-naive patients and 18 healthy controls were analyzed. Microstate analysis showed that one class of microstates (with a right-anterior to left-posterior orientation of the mapped field) displayed longer durations and covered more of the total time in the patients than controls. Another microstate class (with a symmetric, anterior-posterior orientation) was observed less frequently in the patients compared to controls. The observation that selected microstate classes differ between patients with PD and controls suggests that specific brain functions are altered already during resting condition. The altered resting state may be the starting point of the observed dysfunctional processing of phobic stimuli

VIBRATIONAL STUDIES OF AMORPHOUS AND CRYSTALLINE SbSBr

Author Institution:The $A_{v}B_{vi}C_{vii}$ family of ferroelectric materials includes the highly colored species SbSBr and SbSI which may be prepared in both crystalline and amorphous phases. A vibrational study of crystalline and glassy SbSBr has been attempted utilizing both Raman and infrared spectroscopy. The far-ir spectrum of the paraelectric phase of crystalline SbSBr has been recorded as well as the room temperature spectrum of the glass. Furthermore, evidence which strongly suggests a thermochromic phase change at $\sim 90^{\circ} C$ has been gathered from Raman spectra of crystalline SbSBr over the temperature range of $20^{\circ} - 160^{\circ} C$