Electrophysiological correlates of alcohol- and non-alcohol-related stimuli processing in binge drinkers: A follow-up study

Abstract

Background: The continuation of binge drinking is associated with the development of neurocognitive brain abnormalities similar to those observed in patients with alcohol dependence. Alcohol cue reactivity constitutes a risk marker for alcohol dependence. Through event-related potentials (ERPs), we aimed to examine its potential presence as well as its evolution over time in binge drinkers in a one-year period. Methods: ERPs were recorded during a visual oddball task in which controls (n=15) and binge drinkers (n=15) had to detect infrequent deviant stimuli (related or unrelated to alcohol) among frequent standard stimuli. The test was performed twice with a one-year interval in order to explore the longlasting influence of drinking habits. Results: Contrary to the controls, binge drinkers showed significantly reduced amplitudes of the P1 component for both alcohol and non-alcoholrelated cues and of the P3 component only for neutral cues in the second assessment compared with the first. Conclusion: The continuation of binge drinking over one year is associated with the development of brain functional abnormalities (indexed by the P1 component) as well as a higher reactivity to alcohol-related stimuli and/or a decreased reactivity to non-alcohol-related stimuli (indexed by the P3 component).

Behavioral and Cerebral Impairments Associated with Binge Drinking in Youth: A Critical Review

“…This experimental design has led to important insights by showing a specific effect of the binge drinking pattern, a variation of the brain impairments according to the intensity of binge drinking, and a wide range of cerebral alterations (from early to later stages). Moreover, this amplitude reduction in binge drinkers was confirmed at early (P100) and later (P3b) stages of cognitive processing (Ehlers et al, 2007; Petit et al, 2014). The study by Ehlers et al (2007) used a facial discrimination task and highlighted a shorter latency for attentional processes related to novelty (P3a) and a reduced amplitude for decisional processes (P3b).…”

“…The study by Ehlers et al (2007) used a facial discrimination task and highlighted a shorter latency for attentional processes related to novelty (P3a) and a reduced amplitude for decisional processes (P3b). The study of Petit and colleagues (2014) confirmed this amplitude reduction for early and later electrophysiological components after 1 year of binge drinking by using a visual oddball task. Compared with control participants, binge drinkers also demonstrated a reduced late positive component under a high working memory load (Crego et al, 2010).…”

The Brain of Binge Drinkers at Rest: Alterations in Theta and Beta Oscillations in First-Year College Students with a Binge Drinking Pattern

“…Although comparatively much less studied, electrophysiological measures of brain activity also appear to be sensitive to the BD pattern (López-Caneda et al, 2014a ; Petit et al, 2014b ). As such, anomalous brain responses have been documented in BD youths during cognitive tasks using event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related oscillations (EROs; Crego et al, 2009 ; Maurage et al, 2012 ; Smith and Mattick, 2013 ; Petit et al, 2014a ; Watson et al, 2014 ; López-Caneda et al, 2017 ). Despite its well documented potential for detecting neurofunctional anomalies in chronic alcoholics, brain activity during task-free resting states has been virtually unaddressed in the BD population.…”

Increased Neural Activity in Hazardous Drinkers During High Workload in a Visual Working Memory Task: A Preliminary Assessment Through Event-Related Potentials

“…In line with earlier studies [e.g., Refs. (42, 59, 64, 65)], three variables (self-reported by participants through the use of a timeline follow-back method questionnaire assessing alcohol–drug consumption characteristics) were used to determine control and heavy alcohol user groups: the mean number of drinking occasions per week (DOW: “how many times do you typically consume alcohol in a week?”), the mean number of alcohol doses per drinking occasion (ADO: “how many drinks do you generally consume during one drinking occasion?”), and the mean number of alcohol doses per week (ADW: “how many drinks do you generally consume in a week?”; one dose corresponding to 10 g of pure ethanol). According to the definition of binge drinking used in European countries, participants who drank six or more standard alcoholic drinks (10 g of alcohol) on the same occasion at a rate of at least two drinks per hour and at most two or three times per week were classified as hazardous drinkers.…”