In addition to these indices of evoked brain activity, measures of intrinsic, “resting state” brain activity as measured using EEG have also shown associations with alcoholism and other EXT-spectrum disorders. The spontaneous neural activity of the resting state is composed of dynamic combinations of delta (0–3 Hz), theta (3–7 Hz), alpha (7–12 Hz), beta (12–30 Hz), and gamma (>30 Hz) band frequencies (Buzsáki, 2006). Activity in the beta frequency band, a putative index of the level of cortical arousal, has consistently shown associations with EXT-spectrum disorders. These associations may be affected, however, by the nature of the specific disorder and by gender. Increased beta power has been found in those with alcoholism (Bauer, 1994, 2001; Costa & Bauer, 1997; Rangaswamy et al., 2002), cocaine dependence (Costa & Bauer, 1997), and those at high risk for developing alcoholism (Pollock, Earleywine, & Gabrielli, 1995; Rangaswamy et al., 2004), although the specific beta frequencies involved and their scalp topographies have been shown to differ as a function of gender (Rangaswamy et al., 2002; 2004). Beta power has been shown to be reduced, however,
