The major goal of the present study was to assess resting EEG in young adults who varied in their alcohol-drinking amount in the absence of a family history for alcoholism. Binge drinking was defined as a pattern of alcohol drinking that brings the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 gram percent or above more than once within the past 6 months. Achieving this level requires 5 or more drinks (≥5 ounces) for males and 4 or more drinks (≥ 4 ounces) for females are consumed within a 2 hour period [2]. To assay possible EEG changes from past alcohol consumption, 3 binge-drinking groups with equal numbers of each gender were obtained: non-binging (>1 to <5/4 alcoholic drinks/ounces within 2 hours and occurring within the past 6 months), low-binging (5/4–7/6 drinks/ounces within 2 hours on more than 1 occasion within the past 6 months), and high-binging (≥10 drinks/ounces within 2 hours on more than 1 occasion within the past 6 months) alcohol drinkers. This approach will assess binge-drinking correlated CNS neuroelectric activity in young adults of both genders unrelated to alcoholics.
