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Monday, July 9, 2007

Mismatch negativity impairment associated with alcohol consumption in chronic alcoholics: A scalp current density study
International Journal of Psychophysiology
Volume 65, Issue 1, July 2007, Pages 51-57


Previous studies, based on amplitude and latency measurements of auditory event-related brain potentials, yielded inconclusive results about the status of mismatch negativity (MMN) in chronic alcoholics.

The present study explores scalp current density (SCD) dynamics during MMN latency range in alcoholics, and correlates electrical SCD results with clinical data of the patients.

Reduced activity was observed in left frontal and right anterior and posterior temporal areas during MMN in alcoholics. Alcohol consumption correlated negatively with SCD intensity in these regions. Delayed activation was observed in the left posterior temporal area in the patients. Alcohol abstinence duration correlated positively with SCD intensity in this region.

These results point to an impairment of automatic brain processing mechanisms associated with auditory change detection in chronic alcoholism.

The present results suggest a reorganization of the computational neurodynamics of automatic auditory change detection linked to the amount of alcohol consumed in abstinent chronic alcoholics

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Reprint Request E-Mail: carlesgrau@ub.edu
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