title: Effects of a persistent binge drinking pattern of alcohol consumption in young people: a follow-up study using event-related potentials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicoloxía Clínica e Psicobioloxía, Facultade de Psicoloxía, Campus Universitario Sur, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. eduardo.lopez@usc.es
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: López-Caneda
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cadaveira
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crego
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doallo
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corral
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez-Suárez
authors.forename: Socorro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodríguez Holguín
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult