@article{ref1,
title="Effects of a persistent binge drinking pattern of alcohol consumption in young people: a follow-up study using event-related potentials",
journal="Alcohol and alcoholism",
year="2013",
author="López-Caneda, Eduardo and Cadaveira, Fernando and Crego, Alberto and Doallo, Sonia and Corral, Montserrat and Gómez-Suárez, Ana and Rodríguez Holguín, Socorro",
volume="48",
number="4",
pages="464-471",
abstract="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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0735-0414",
doi="10.1093/alcalc/agt046",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agt046"
}