As individuals, people react in various ways to the same situation or event. This also rings true when it comes to effectively treating conditions such as depression or anxiety, which often makes it difficult to determine whether treatment is working. 

A research team from the University of Illinois at Chicago reported that they might be able to assist clinicians in regards to determining what the most effective treatment would be. They state that Electroencephalography (EEG) can be utilized to determine whether the results of treatment in a comprehensive and accurate way.

Katie Burkhouse, the assistant professor of psychiatry in the UIC College of Medicine and lead author said, “About 50 percent of people prescribed either selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, -- a class of antidepressants -- or cognitive behavioral therapy get better with those treatments; we haven't had an objective way to measure whether a patient is improving with treatment or which patients will do better on SSRIs versus cognitive behavioral therapy, until now."

If the patient experiences something positive after going through the treatment, the brain reacts with increased activity. This difference in electrical activity can be measured by EEG.

Dr. K. Luan Phan, the professor of psychiatry in the UIC College of Medicine and a senior author said, "These findings could help bring precision medicine closer to reality for patients with anxiety and depressive disorders; we can say with heightened certainty that being able to give them a treatment that will work for them is a big step towards helping more patients get relief from their symptoms sooner.”