MONOTONOUS SENSORIMOTOR INFORMATION-PROCE SSING AND MATCH MISMATCH PROCESSES IMPAIRED IN MAN UNDER CHRONIC PALM ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION/

Monotonous sensori-motor information processing and match/mismatch pro cesses impaired in man under chronic palm alcohol consumption. The lat e components of tile event-related potential (ERP) were recorded durin g a Go/No-Go task from 21 alcoholics (with chronic palm alcohol intoxi cation) divided in 3 groups of seven (abstinent alcoholics men, abstin ent alcoholic women, and alcoholic men) and 14 normal adult volunteers divided into 2 groups (control men, and control women). The subjects were submitted to paired auditory stimuli and were assigned to detect and respond by pressing a posh button to a rarely occurring imperative stimulus (20%). Latency of the late components of the ERP elicited bo th by target and standard imperative stimuli was signicantly delayed i n three alcoholic groups compared to the controls. The amplitude of P2 00 and P300 components was also decreased in alcoholics, which display ed the same middle line scalp distribution of P300 amplitudes, regardl ess of the imperative stimulus class: target or standard. These findin gs agree with the supposition that match/mismatch processess are impai red in subjects with chronic palm alcohol intoxication, and that they have difficulties in evaluating the significance of stimuli.