major characteristic of the binge consumption and withdrawal pattern [2]. Ehlers et al. [7] utilized a facial discrimination task in which digital photographs of happy, neutral, and sad faces were presented, with participants instructed to indicate with a button press when the happy and sad stimuli appeared while ignoring the neutral stimuli. Adolescents exposed to alcohol (≥5 drinks/occasion ≈ 5 ounces) produced smaller P300 amplitudes, with a positive family history for alcohol dependence found to be a significant covariate. P300 latency also was decreased for alcohol and drug-exposed young adults relative to controls. These findings imply that binge drinking and related variables can affect neuroelectric measures related to cognitive processing.
