In a visual oddball paradigm, alcoholics manifested significantly reduced theta and delta ERO amplitudes while processing the target stimuli (Jones et al., 2006b); theta differences have a frontal focus while delta tends to be more posterior (Fig. 23.1). Adolescent HR offspring also showed similar reductions in delta and theta power when compared to LR adolescents; however, the topography of theta is shifted more posteriorly to vertex and parietal regions, similar to the topography of delta oscillations (Rangaswamy et al., 2007). Interestingly, the EROs were superior to P3 amplitude in differentiating between HR and LR offspring. Similar to the observations from P3 studies, the results suggest that decreased theta and delta ERO to target stimuli may antecede the development of AUDs and represent an excellent trait marker.
