J. Ahveninen et al., Post-withdrawal changes in middle-latency auditory evoked potentials in abstinent human alcoholics, NEUROSCI L, 268(2), 1999, pp. 57-60
We investigated the effects of chronic alcoholism on middle-latency auditor
y evoked potentials (MAEP) in 14 male alcoholics with 1-6 weeks of abstinen
ce (without other severe disorders) and 13 age-matched male social-drinker
controls. The peak amplitude of a positive deflection (Pa) of the MAEP, pea
king at about 30 ms post-stimulus, was significantly larger in the alcoholi
cs than in the controls (P < 0.01), and notably, a significant negative cor
relation (r = -0.65) was observed between the Pa amplitude and duration of
abstinence in the alcoholics. The present results suggest that the post-wit
hdrawal brain hyperexcitability in the alcoholic brain, gradually recoverin
g with abstinence, could be objectively and non-invasively studied with the
MAEP. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. Ail rights reserved.