Similar or disparate brain patterns? The intra-personal EEG variability of three women with multiple personality disorder

Clin EEG Neurosci. 2006 Jul;37(3):235-42. doi: 10.1177/155005940603700314.

Abstract

Quantitative EEG was used to assess the intra-personal variability of brain electrical activity for 3 women diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). Two separate control groups (within-subject and between-subject) were used to test the hypothesis that the intra-personal EEG variability between 2 alters would be less than the interpersonal EEG variability between 2 controls, and similar to the intra-personal EEG variability of a single personality. This hypothesis was partially supported. In general, the 2 EEG records of a MPD subject (alter 1 vs. alter 2) were more different from one another than the 2 EEG records of a single control, but less different from one another than the EEG records of 2 separate controls. Most of the EEG variability between alters involved beta activity in the frontal and temporal lobes.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain / physiopathology*
  • Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Dissociative Identity Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Dissociative Identity Disorder / physiopathology*
  • Electroencephalography / methods*
  • Electroencephalography / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Reference Values
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity