The present study extended our initial analyses of neurophysiological endophenotypes in genetic mouse models of high and low alcohol preference by characterizing changes in ERO mean energy and the degree of phase variability in the frontal and parietal cortices. Changes in ERO energy and PLI were estimated for time-frequency ROIs derived using standard, rare and noise auditory oddball data. Presentation of auditory oddball stimuli produced changes in ERO mean energy in the frontal and parietal cortices. While these changes were observed in all frequency bands studied (delta, theta and alpha/beta), they were dependent on the type of auditory stimuli used to generate the ERP (standard vs. rare vs. noise). Our findings also suggest that changes in ERO mean energy were dependent on the cortical region studied (frontal vs. parietal). Moreover, the present results provide evidence of strain differences in ERO mean energy and PLI of selected frequency bands within time windows corresponding to ERP components previously shown to be changed in these models of alcohol preference.
