Journal
ALCOHOL AND ALCOHOLISM
Volume 48, Issue 4, Pages 464-471Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agt046
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Funding
- Galician Regional R&D Autorithy, Xunta de Galicia [INCITE08PXIB211015PR]
- Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion [EDU2008-03400, PSI2011-22575]
- FPU program of the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion [AP2008-03433]
- Isidro Parga Pondal program (Xunta de Galicia, Spain)
- FPI program of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion [CG2008-0461-C02-01]
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Aims: The objective of this study was to examine brain activity related to visual attention processes in youths who had maintained a binge drinking (BD) pattern of alcohol consumption for > 2 years. Methods: The participants were 57 university students (26 binge drinkers: BDs) with no personal or family history of alcoholism or psychopathological disorders in first-degree relatives. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants performed a visual oddball task (twice within a 2-year interval). The latency and amplitude of the P3b component of the ERPs were analysed. Results: The P3b amplitude was larger in young BDs than in aged-matched controls at both evaluation times, and the difference was more pronounced after 2 years of maintenance of a BD pattern of consumption. The larger P3b amplitude was associated with an earlier onset of regular drinking and with a greater quantity and intensity of consumption. Conclusions: These findings suggest that young BDs exhibit anomalies in neural activity involved in attentional/working memory processes, which increase after 2 years of maintenance of BD. This anomalous neural activity may reflect underlying dysfunctions in neurophysiological mechanisms as well as the recruitment of additional attentional/working memory resources to enable the binge drinkers to perform the task adequately.
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