Possible Effects of Bright Light Therapy on Electroencephalogram-Vigilance in the Treatment of Depression in Adolescents: A Pilot Study

Christoph Berger; Alexander Dück; Stephanie Gest; Lena Jonas; Michael Kölch; Franziska Martin; Olaf Reis; Jennifer Schroth; Tanja Legenbauer; Martin Holtmann

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.820090

Possible Effects of Bright Light Therapy on Electroencephalogram-Vigilance in the Treatment of Depression in Adolescents: A Pilot Study

Front Psychiatry. 2022 May 12:13:820090. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.820090. eCollection 2022.

Affiliations

¹ Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Neurology, University Medical Centre Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
² Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) University Hospital Hamm for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
³ Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany.

Abstract

Background: Chronotherapeutic treatments for depression, such as bright light therapy (BLT), are non-invasive and produce almost no side effects. However, study evidence for reliable neurobiological changes associated with treatment response is still rare. Several studies using EEG-vigilance indicate higher arousal and a later decline during resting state in adult depressive patients compared to healthy controls. To our knowledge, there are no study reports on EEG-vigilance in depressive youth to date.

Methods: A total of 11 adolescents with depression receiving BLT were compared to 11 age and gender-matched patients with depression receiving treatment as usual (TAU). The BLT was administered in the morning for 2 weeks on five consecutive days per week. The depressive symptomatology was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) of 20 min was recorded. EEG and BDI-II were assessed before and after 10 days of treatment. Vigilance level and vigilance decline were estimated using the VIGALL toolbox.

Results: Brain arousal increased after 10 days of bright light therapy in adolescents with depression. Severe depressive symptoms were associated with higher brain arousal levels; the BDI-II sum score correlated negatively with the amount of drowsiness.

Limitations: The sample size was small and participants' brain arousal at baseline was not matched and differed between BLT and TAU groups.

Conclusion: The BLT might have an additional effect on brain arousal. EEG-vigilance seems to be a reliable and valid marker for neurobiological changes that are probably associated with depression and its treatment and, therefore, might be of clinical relevance.

Keywords: BLT; VIGALL; bright-light-therapy; depression; vigilance.