Neurocognitive deficits in male alcoholics: an ERP/sLORETA analysis of the N2 component in an equal probability Go/NoGo task.

In alcoholism research, studies concerning time-locked electrophysiological aspects of response inhibition have concentrated mainly on the P3 component of the event-related potential (ERP). The objective of the present study was to investigate the N2 component of the ERP to elucidate possible brain dysfunction related to the motor response and its inhibition using a Go/NoGo task in alcoholics. The sample consisted of 78 abstinent alcoholic males and 58 healthy male controls. The N2 peak was compared across group and task conditions. Alcoholics showed significantly reduced N2 peak amplitudes compared to normal controls for Go as well as NoGo task conditions. Control subjects showed significantly larger NoGo than Go N2 amplitudes at frontal regions, whereas alcoholics did not show any differences between task conditions at frontal regions. Standardized low resolution electromagnetic tomography analysis (sLORETA) indicated that alcoholics had significantly lower current density at the source than control subjects for the NoGo condition at bilateral anterior prefrontal regions, whereas the differences between groups during the Go trials were not statistically significant. Furthermore, NoGo current density across both groups revealed significantly more activation in bilateral anterior cingulate cortical (ACC) areas, with the maximum activation in the right cingulate regions. However, the magnitude of this difference was much less in alcoholics compared to control subjects. These findings suggest that alcoholics may have deficits in effortful processing during the motor response and its inhibition, suggestive of possible frontal lobe dysfunction.

Effects of ethanol on temporal recovery of auditory-evoked potentials in individuals at risk for alcoholism.

The present investigation examined the effects of placebo (P), low dose (LD), and high dose (HD) ethanol on auditory event-related potential (AEP) recovery functions in a group of males at high risk to develop alcoholism (HR; n = 23, mean = 22.3 years) and a low risk (LR; n = 27, mean = 23.0 years) control group. Condition order was randomized, with one condition (P, LD, or HD) per day and a minimum 1-day interval between conditions. For each subject, both blood alcohol levels (BALs) measured via breathalyzer, and event-related potentials recorded with the entire 10/20 International System, were assessed prior to and at mean intervals of 20, 60, 90, and 130 min after P, LD, or HD administration. A series of binaural auditory stimuli with randomly interposed interstimulus intervals of 0.5, 1.0, and 10.0 sec were used to elicit the N100 and P200 components of the AEP. Between-groups comparisons indicated that ethanol elicited risk group differences in recovery functions not present at baseline. The differences were manifested in the HR group as larger decrements in P200 amplitude during the ascending blood alcohol curve (acute sensitivity) and more rapid returns of both N100 and P200 to baseline levels during the descending blood alcohol curve (acute tolerance). These findings support Newlin and Thomson's (1990) Differentiator Model, suggesting that LR and HR individuals are differentially sensitive to the effects of ethanol.

Visual p3 in female alcoholics.

BACKGROUND: The P300 (P3) component of the event related potential has been established as a sensitive risk marker of vulnerability to alcoholism. Most alcoholism studies have focused on men; recent studies indicate that women are equally vulnerable to developing alcoholism. METHODS: Visual P3 recorded from 31 electrode positions was evaluated in 44 alcoholic and 60 control women, 24-50 years of age. P3 amplitudes and latencies of the two groups were statistically compared using Analysis of Variance; source localization of surface amplitude values from each group were plotted using a low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography. RESULTS: The results indicated that alcoholic women had significantly smaller P3 amplitudes in the frontal and central regions compared with controls. Source localization showed lowered activation in alcoholic women in right dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex and the ventro-medial fronto-central regions. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that P3 is an equally sensitive endophenotypic marker of vulnerability to alcoholism in women. The findings are discussed in terms of functional and physiologic significance of the P3 amplitude in alcoholic women and its relationship to drinking behaviors.

Amplitude of visual P3 event-related potential as a phenotypic marker for a predisposition to alcoholism: preliminary results from the COGA Project. Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism.

Recent data collected at six identical electrophysiological laboratories from the large national multisite Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism provide evidence for considering the P3 amplitude of the event-related potential as a phenotypic marker for the risk of alcoholism. The distribution of P3 amplitude to target stimuli at the Pz electrode in individuals 16 years of age and over from 163 randomly ascertained control families (n = 687) was compared with those from 219 densely affected alcoholic families (n = 1276) in which three directly interviewed first-degree relatives met both DSM-III-R and Feighner criteria at the definite level for alcohol dependence (stage II). The control sample did not exclude individuals with psychiatric illness or alcoholism to obtain incidence rates of psychiatric disorders similar to those of the general population. P3 amplitude data from control families was converted to Z-scores, and a P3 amplitude beyond 2 SD's below the mean was considered an "abnormal trait." When age- and sex-matched distributions of P3 amplitude were compared, members of densely affected stage II families were more likely to manifest low P3 amplitudes (2 SD below the mean) than members of control families, comparing affected and unaffected offspring, and all individuals; all comparisons of these distributions between groups were significant (p < 0.00001). P3 amplitude means were also significantly lower in stage II family members, compared with control family members for all comparisons, namely probands, affected and unaffected individuals (p < 0.0001), and offspring (p < 0.01). Furthermore, affected individuals from stage II families, but not control families, had significantly lower P3 amplitudes than unaffected individuals (p < 0.001). Affected males from stage II families had significantly lower P3 amplitudes than affected females (p < 0.001). Recent linkage analyses indicate that visual P3 amplitude provides a biological phenotypic marker that has genetic underpinnings.