Theta event-related synchronization is a biomarker for a morbid effect of alcoholism on the brain that may partially resolve with extended abstinence.
- Authors
- Gilmore, Casey S; Fein, George
- Year
- 2012
- Journal
- Brain and behavior
- PMID
- 23170242
- DOI
- 10.1002/brb3.95
- PMCID
- PMC3500466
Analyzing the induced (non-stimulus-phase-locked) EEG activity elicited by targets in a three-condition visual oddball task, Fein and colleagues have shown increased theta band event-related synchronization (ERS) in two different samples of long-term abstinent alcoholics (LTAA) compared with age- and gender-comparable controls. The theta ERS effect in alcoholics was also shown to be independent of, and opposite in direction to, the reduced amplitude evoked (stimulus-phase-locked) activity typically found in alcoholics and those at genetic risk of developing alcoholism. This study extends these findings by applying time-frequency analysis to target stimulus event-related EEG to compare evoked and induced theta activity in 43 LTAA and 72 nonalcoholic controls with a group of 31 alcoholics who just recently initiated abstinence from alcohol (between 6- and 15-week abstinent; referred to as short-term abstinent alcoholics, STAA). Results demonstrated that (1) evoked theta power was reduced to the same degree in STAA and LTAA compared with nonalcoholic control participants, while (2) induced theta activity, measured by theta ERS, was increased in both STAA and LTAA relative to controls, but was also increased in STAA relative to LTAA. The STAA and LTAA groups did not differ on measures of alcohol use severity or family history of alcohol problems. These results, coupled with previous findings that show a relationship between stronger theta ERS and increased memory load and attention allocation, suggest that increased theta ERS may be a biomarker for a detrimental effect of chronic alcohol abuse on the brain - a detriment that may recover, at least partially, with extended abstinence.
At top are the grand-averaged ERPs at electrode Pz for the target stimulus for NAC, LTAA, and STAA. Below are the grand-averaged evoked (stimulus-phase-locked) time-frequency representations (TFR), band-pass filtered in the theta band (3–8 Hz) to accentuate the relevant activity, at electrode Pz for the target stimulus for NAC, LTAA, and STAA, together with the topographic maps for the mean activity within the theta time-frequency region of interest (indicated by the dashed box on each TFR). The topographic maps are scaled differently so as to clearly indicate the spatial distribution of each.
Grand-averaged induced (non-stimulus-phase-locked) time-frequency representations (TFR), band-pass filtered in the theta band (3–8 Hz) to accentuate the relevant activity, at electrode FCz for the target stimulus for NAC, LTAA, and STAA. The poststimulus and prestimulus theta TFROIs are indicated by dashed boxes on the TFRs. Topographic maps for the mean activity within the poststimulus theta TFROI for NAC, LTAA, and STAA are shown.
No entities extracted from this document yet.
No uploaded files.
In this knowledge base
| Title | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|
| Occipital neural dynamics in cannabis and alcohol use: independent effects of addiction. | 2021 | 34782632 |
| Understanding alcohol use disorders with neuroelectrophysiology. | 2014 | 25307587 |
External
| Title | Authors | Journal | Year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brain regulation training improves emotional competences in patients with alcohol use disorder. | Hack RL et al. | — | 2024 | → |
| Targeting electroencephalography for alcohol dependence: A narrative review. | Zhang H et al. | — | 2023 | → |
| Midfrontal Theta Activity in Psychiatric Illness: An Index of Cognitive Vulnerabilities Across Disorders. | McLoughlin G et al. | — | 2022 | → |
| Occipital neural dynamics in cannabis and alcohol use: independent effects of addiction. | Lew BJ et al. | — | 2021 | → |
| Neuropsychophysiological Measures of Alcohol Dependence: Can We Use EEG in the Clinical Assessment? | Jurado-Barba R et al. | — | 2020 | → |
| Neural correlates of visual attention in alcohol use disorder. | Zehra A et al. | — | 2019 | → |
| A review on EEG-based methods for screening and diagnosing alcohol use disorder. | Mumtaz W et al. | — | 2018 | → |
| Conflict-related medial frontal theta as an endophenotype for alcohol use disorder. | Harper J et al. | — | 2018 | → |
| Genetic effects on source level evoked and induced oscillatory brain responses in a visual oddball task. | Antonakakis M et al. | — | 2016 | → |
| Deficient Event-Related Theta Oscillations in Individuals at Risk for Alcoholism: A Study of Reward Processing and Impulsivity Features. | Kamarajan C et al. | — | 2015 | → |
| Understanding alcohol use disorders with neuroelectrophysiology. | Rangaswamy M et al. | — | 2014 | → |