Regarding the relationship between P300 and AUDs, it is interesting, however, that although TNAD participants (regardless of gender) did not exhibit significant changes in the P300 relative to NSAC participants, gender appeared to moderate the direction of the relationship between P300 and AUDs. Specifically, and relative to corresponding NSAC participants, female TNAD participants showed slight decreases in P3b amplitude (i.e., a change in the expected direction), while male TNAD participants showed slight increases in P3b amplitude (i.e., a change in the opposite direction). These findings contrast with those from a previous study by this laboratory that used an identical task to examine visual P300 in adult treatment-naïve participants and found (non-significant) reductions in P3b amplitude in TNAD relative to NSAC across genders (Fein and Andrew, 2011). These discrepant findings may suggest age-dependent effects of AUDs on P3b amplitude in treatment-naïve males (i.e., young males show slight increases in P3b amplitude, while older males show slight decreases in P3b amplitude). However, because studies rarely examine the P300 in both younger and older AUD populations simultaneously, it is difficult to determine whether age-dependent effects indeed exist. Further work is thus needed to examine gender differences in the P300 in adolescents.
