EEG coherence is a function of thalamocortical and cortico-cortical synchronization, involving both short axonal connections of neighboring pyramidal cells, and long axonal propagation via intracortical association pathways (i.e., inter- and intra-cortical pathways4). EEG coherence is known to change dynamically across the lifespan, with some studies showing normative increases in childhood17, adolescence18 and early adulthood19 and decreases in later adulthood20. Since these measures are well suited for detecting relatively subtle structural brain abnormalities, coherence has been particularly useful in the study of normal brain development, learning disorders, and neuropsychiatric disorders such as AUD21. Differences in resting state interhemispheric coherence have been observed in individuals with AUD when compared to unaffected individuals across most frequency bands, with findings most prominent in parietally coupled theta (3-7 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), and beta (13-28 Hz) bands5. In a subsample of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), individuals with DSM-IV alcohol dependence (AD) manifested increased resting EEG interhemispheric theta coherence8,9, indicating altered cortico-cortical functional connectivity. Recent work22 identified resting state theta EEG coherence networks that were correlated with resting state executive control
