Interhemispheric electroencephalographic coherence as a biological marker in alcoholism

Abstract

Electroencephalographic coherence scores in 21 teetotaler first-degree relatives of alcoholics, 27 subjects with alcohol dependence and 21 healthy subjects without a family history of alcohol abuse were compared. The relatives had significantly higher coherence scores in the frontal and parietal leads than the alcoholics and in the frontal and centroparietal leads than in the healthy subjects. This might represent a trait marker of resilience in subjects at high risk for the development of alcoholism.

EEG Biofeedback as a Treatment for Substance Use Disorders: Review, Rating of Efficacy and Recommendations for Further Research

“…Michael et al (1993) found higher central alpha and slowbeta coherence but lower parietal alpha and slow-beta coherence in male participants with alcohol dependence. Winterer, Enoch, et al (2003) and Winterer, Smolka, et al (2003) described higher left-temporal alpha and slow-beta coherence and higher slowbeta coherence at right-temporal and frontal electrode pairs in alcohol-dependent male and female participants.…”

“…Alcohol-dependent individuals have different synchronization of brain activity than light drinkers as reflected by differences in resting EEG coherence (Kaplan, Glueck, Hesselbrock, & Reed, 1985;Michael, Mirza, Mukundan, & Channabasavanna, 1993;Winterer, Enoch, et al, 2003) and power (e.g., Bauer, 2001aBauer, , 2001bEnoch, White, Harris, Rohrbaugh, & Goldman, 2002;Rangaswamy et al, 2002;Saletu-Zyhlarz et al, 2004). Most differences in EEG coherence and power are found in the alpha and beta bands.…”

“…Most differences in EEG coherence and power are found in the alpha and beta bands. Non-alcohol-dependent relatives of alcohol-dependent individuals also have EEG differences in alpha and beta coherence (Michael et al, 1993) and power Finn & Justus, 1999;Rangaswamy et al, 2002;Rangaswamy et al, 2004) as compared to those without alcohol-dependent relatives. This indicates that differences in functional brain activity as measured with qEEG in alcoholdependent patients relate not only to the impact of long-term alcohol intake but possibly also to genetic factors related to alcohol dependence.…”

“…Kaplan et al (1985) reported lower frontal alpha and slow-beta coherence in alcohol-dependent male and female participants. Michael et al (1993) found higher central alpha and slowbeta coherence but lower parietal alpha and slow-beta coherence in male participants with alcohol dependence; contrarily, other findings suggest that morphine, alcohol, and marijuana show increased alpha 2 power in the spectral EEG and relate this to the euphoric state produced by the drug (Lukas, 1991(Lukas, , 1993Lukas et al, 1989Lukas et al, , 1995. Winterer, Enoch, et al (2003) and Winterer, Smolka, et al (2003) described higher lefttemporal alpha and slow-beta coherence and higher slow-beta coherence at right-temporal and frontal electrode pairs in alcoholdependent male and female participants.…”

Moderate-to-heavy alcohol intake is associated with differences in synchronization of brain activity during rest and mental rehearsal

“…Alcohol-dependent individuals have different synchronization of brain activity than light drinkers as reflected by differences in resting EEG coherence (Kaplan et al, 1985;Michael et al, 1993;Winterer et al, 2003a) and power (e.g., Bauer, 2001;Enoch et al, 2002;Rangaswamy et al, 2002;Saletu-Zyhlarz et al, 2004). Most differences in EEG coherence and power are found at alpha (8-12 Hz), slowbeta (12 -20 Hz), and fast-beta (20 -30 Hz) frequencies.…”