Global field power of auditory N1 correlates with impaired verbal-memory performance in human alcoholics

First weeks after alcohol withdrawal, associated with profound changes in n eural transmission, constitute the critical period for relapse prevention a nd pharmacological intervention in alcoholism. Here, 20 male alcoholics wit h 1-6 weeks of abstinence and 20 age-matched healthy controls were studied using auditory event-related potentials (ERP), measured with a 32-channel e lectroencephalogram, and neuropsychological tests of auditory-verbal memory . Global field power maximum of ERP during 80-150 ms period after presentat ion of unattended tones (binaural 700 Hz pure tones, inter-stimulus interva l 2.5 s) was significantly (P < 0.01) larger in the alcoholics than control s. This effect, reflecting augmented N1 generation, significantly correlate d (r = 0.5) with impaired memory performance in the alcoholics. The profoun d change in pre-attentive auditory processing, predicting impaired memory p erformance, might reflect impaired cerebral inhibitory transmission in alco holics. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.