Previous work suggests that resting alpha is a stable trait characteristic (22–24) and alpha differences between depressed patients and controls (10) or between treatment response groups (21) persist following treatment. Condition-dependent posterior alpha was also found to be greatest in individuals with a strong familial risk for depression (i.e., both parents having MDD; 58). Consequently, prominent alpha in patients may be a trait marker for a form of depression that is responsive to serotonergic agents. The correspondence between serotonergic activity and behavioral arousal (59) and the inverse relationship between posterior alpha and physiologic or emotional arousal (60) may both have implications for depression and SRI response. Further study is, however, needed to identify their relevance for different forms of depression.
