a decrease in slow alpha activity in alcoholics is more pronounced in relapsers than in those who maintain abstinence (Saletu-Zyhlarz et al. 2004). Further, gender- as well as ethnicity-related alpha findings have been reported in offspring of alcoholics (Ehlers and Phillips 2003; Ehlers and Schuckit 1991; Ehlers et al. 1996; Finn and Justus 1999). Manifestations of the low-voltage alpha (LVA) variants may be influenced by ethnicity and gender, whereas the findings on alpha power are equivocal. The association of LVA variants in females to a catechol-o-methyltransferase (COMT) gene and to anxiety and alcoholism is discussed in a later section (see “Electrophysiological Measures as Endophenotypes for Alcoholism”).
