The EEG maps of alcohol-dependent patients differ significantly from those of normal controls and patients suffering from other mental disorders and might be useful for diagnostic purposes (Pollock et al. 1992; Saletu et al. 2002; Saletu-Zyhlarz et al. 2004). Decreased power in slow bands in alcoholic patients may be an indicator of brain atrophy and chronic brain damage, while an increase in the beta band may be related to various factors such as medication use, family history of alcoholism, and/or hallucinations, suggesting a state of cortical hyperexcitability (Coutin-Churchman et al. 2006).
