Alcohol Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Alcohol, including details on use, abuse, treatment, health, rehab.

Induced theta oscillations as biomarkers for alcoholism.

Andrew C, Fein G

Neurobehavioral Research Inc., Honolulu, HI 96814, USA.

OBJECTIVE: Studies have suggested that non-phase-locked event-related oscillations (ERO) in target stimulus processing might provide biomarkers of alcoholism. This study investigates the discriminatory power of non-phase-locked oscillations in a group of long-term abstinent alcoholics (LTAAs) and non-alcoholic controls (NACs). METHODS: EEGs were recorded from 48 LTAAs and 48 age and gender comparable NACs during rest with eyes open (EO) and during the performance of a three-condition visual target detection task. The data were analyzed to extract resting power, ERP amplitude and non-phase-locked ERO power measures. Data were analyzed using MANCOVA to determine the discriminatory power of induced theta ERO vs. resting theta power vs. P300 ERP measures in differentiating the LTAA and NAC groups. RESULTS: Both groups showed significantly more theta power in the pre-stimulus reference period of the task vs. the resting EO condition. The resting theta power did not discriminate the groups, while the LTAAs showed significantly less pre-stimulus theta power vs. the NACs. The LTAAs showed a significantly larger theta event-related synchronization (ERS) to the target stimulus vs. the NACs, even after accounting for pre-stimulus theta power levels. ERS to non-target stimuli showed smaller induced oscillations vs. target stimuli with no group differences. Alcohol use variables, a family history of alcohol problems, and the duration of alcohol abstinence were not associated with any theta power measures. CONCLUSIONS: While reference theta power in the task and induced theta oscillations to target stimuli both discriminate LTAAs and NACs, induced theta oscillations better discriminate the groups. Induced theta power measures are also more powerful and independent group discriminators than the P3b amplitude. SIGNIFICANCE: Induced frontal theta oscillations promise to provide biomarkers of alcoholism that complement the well-established P300 ERP discriminators.

Published 15 February 2010 in Clin Neurophysiol, 121(3): 350-8.
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Articles on Alcohol published 28 January 2010:

The association between alcohol consumption and prevalent cardiovascular diseases among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected men.   J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr, 53(2): 247-53.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether alcohol consumption is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) among HIV-infected veterans. METHODS: Using established thresholds for alcohol consumption, we analyzed cross-sectional data from 4743 men (51% HIV infected) from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a prospective cohort of HIV-infected veterans and demographically similar HIV-uninfected veterans. Using logistic regression, we estimated the odds ratio (OR) for the association between alcohol ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alcohol published 26 January 2010:

gamma-Glutamyltranspeptidase and incident stroke among Japanese men and women: the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study (CIRCS).   Stroke, 41(2): 385-8.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although serum gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) levels have been associated with cardiovascular disease incidence, few studies have taken into account the effect of alcohol intake on GGT levels. In this study, we examined the relationship between GGT and stroke incidence according to drinking status. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of Japanese women (N=6281) and men (N=3471) aged 40 to 69 years living in communities under systematic surveillance for ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alcohol published 22 January 2010:

The assessment of serum soluble transferrin receptor in alcoholics.   Clin Exp Med, 10(1): 73-9.

The consumption of large amounts of alcohol disturbs body iron metabolism and leads to increase of body iron stores and may cause various hematologic changes. Both, iron overload and iron depletion could have effect on the metabolic, transit and storage pools. These pools and its indicators were evaluated previously in abusers, but there is no information concerning the serum soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) as a new marker of transit compartment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alcohol published 21 January 2010:

Drinking and future thinking: acute effects of alcohol on prospective memory and future simulation.   Psychopharmacology (Berl), 208(2): 301-8.

BACKGROUND: It has recently been shown that acute alcohol globally impairs 'prospective memory' (PM)-remembering to do something in the future (Leitz et al. in Psychopharmacology 205:379-387, 2009). In healthy, sober individuals, simulating future events at encoding enhances PM performance. AIMS: We therefore aimed to determine if future event simulation could attenuate the impairing effects of acute alcohol on PM. METHODS: Using a double-blind independent group design, 32 healthy volunteers ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Pontocerebellar volume deficits and ataxia in alcoholic men and women: no evidence for "telescoping".   Psychopharmacology (Berl), 208(2): 279-90.

INTRODUCTION: Brain volume shrinkage is common in treatment-seeking patients with alcohol use disorders. Whether women are more vulnerable to brain dysmorphology than men despite lower alcohol consumption levels or shorter dependency ("telescoping effect") remains controversial and has not been considered with respect to infratentorial structures or their potential contribution to ataxia. METHODS: The 200 participants included 64 men and 31 women with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Alcohol published 18 January 2010:

The role of ethnic matching between patient and provider on the effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions with Hispanics.   Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 34(2): 262-71.

BACKGROUND: Evaluating the effectiveness of treatments such as brief alcohol interventions among Hispanics is essential to effectively addressing their treatment needs. Clinicians of the same ethnicity as the client may be more likely to understand the culture-specific values, norms, and attitudes and, therefore, the intervention may be more effective. Thus, in cases in which Hispanic patients were provided intervention by a Hispanic clinician improved drinking outcomes were expected. METHODS: ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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BACKGROUND: Alcoholism is often associated with impaired emotional control. Alcoholics have also been found to have deficits in frontal lobe executive functions. Recent functional imaging studies have suggested that alcoholics show greater activation than nonalcoholics in circuits involving frontal lobes, as well as more posterior brain regions, when engaged in executive-type tasks. In this study, we compared brain activations of alcohol-dependent patients and healthy nonalcoholics while they ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in and physician support for the use of single-item screeners for problem drinking. METHODS: In a representative sample of U.S. adults (n = 43,093) and within selected subgroups, past-year frequency of drinking 5+/4+ drinks and maximum drinks consumed on any day were evaluated as screeners for past-year alcohol dependence, any alcohol use disorder (AUD), and any AUD or hazardous drinking, using standard measures of screening performance. AUDs were ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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