Quantitative electroencephalographic analyses in cocaine-preferring polysubstance abusers during abstinence

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

“…Qualitative changes were observed in more than 70% of heroin addicts in the early abstinence (acute withdrawal) period; these included low-voltage background activity with diminution of alpha rhythm, an increase in beta activity, and a large amount of low-amplitude delta and theta waves in central regions (Olivennes, Charles-Nicolas, & Olievenstein, 1983;Polunina & Davydov, 2004). Franken et al (2004) found that abstinent heroindependent participants have an enhanced fast beta power compared with healthy controls, and this finding is concordant with other EEG studies on alcohol and cocaine abusing participants (Costa & Bauer, 1997;Herning, Glover, Koeppl, Phillips, & London, 1994;Rangaswamy et al, 2004;Roemer, Cornwell, Dewart, Jackson, & Ercegovac, 1995). Spectral power and ERPs in heroin addicts strongly relate to abstinence length (Bauer, 2001b;Polunina & Davydov, 2004;Shufman et al, 1996).…”

“…This was replicated in subsequent studies with a larger number of participants (Alper, 1999;Alper, Chabot, Kim, Prichep, & John, 1990;Alper, Prichep, Kowalik, Rosenthal, & John, 1998;Costa & Bauer, 1997;Herning et al, 1985;Noldy, Santos, Politzer, Blair, & Carlen, 1994;Prichep, Alper, Kowalik, & Rosenthal, 1996;Prichep et al, 1999;Prichep et al, 2002;Roemer et al, 1995). Beside beta effects, studies have reported an increase in delta activity (Herning et al, 1985) and frontal alpha activity (Herning, Glover, Koeppl, et al, 1994), whereas others have reported an increase in alpha wave EEG associated with bursts of cocaine-induced euphoria (Lukas, 1991).…”

“…More recently, researchers have begun analyzing qEEG profiles of cocainedependent patients using the spectral power of each primary bandwidth over the different topographic cortical areas. Excess alpha activity (Alper et al, 1990;Herning, Glover, Koeppl, et al, 1994;Lukas, 1991;Prichep et al, 1996) and decreased delta activity (Alper et al, 1990;Noldy et al, 1994;Prichep et al, 1996;Roemer et al, 1995) have been reported, whereas others have reported increased beta power (Herning, Glover, Koeppl, et al, 1994;Herning et al, 1985;Noldy et al, 1994) in cocaine-dependent patients, recorded in eyes closed, resting conditions. The qEEG abnormalities, primarily found in anterior cortical regions, were shown to correlate with the amount of prior cocaine use (Herning, Glover, & Guo, 1994;Prichep et al, 1996;Roemer et al, 1995;Venneman et al, 2006).…”

“…Research on functional connectivity in drug withdrawal states is restricted to a few studies on coherence of the EEG signal in abstinent heroin users (Fingelkurts et al, 2006b;Franken et al, 2004), active heroin abusers (Fingelkurts et al, 2006a), and abstinent polysubstance abusers (Roemer et al, 1995). In a study on 22 opioid-dependent patients under acute opioid influence, Fingelkurts et al (2006a) showed that longitudinal opioid exposure impairs cortical local and remote functional connectivity and found that local connectivity increased, whereas the remote one decreased.…”

“…QEEG has been used more often to characterize the effects of withdrawal in cocaine-dependent patients. Several studies reported that during protracted abstinence from cocaine qEEG effects are featured by long-lasting increases in alpha and beta bands together with reduced activity in delta and theta bands (Alper et al, 1990;Prichep et al, 1996;Roemer et al, 1995).…”