Abstract
This is a second part of a research aimed to study the effects of alcohol on the electrophysiological processes in student volunteers. The first part showed that alcohol slowed the Omitted Stimulus Potential (OSP). This work studied the ethanol effects on the parameters (i.e. rate of rise, amplitude and peak latency) of the P2 component of the evoked potentials (EPs) yielded by trains of auditory stimuli. It is hypothesized here that if P2 and OSP waves share some common neural processes then alcohol should also affect these specific parameters. A dose of 0.8 g/kg of alcohol or a placebo (0 g/kg) was administered to two groups of 15 young men who were tested before and again after treatment. The pre-post treatment change in each of the measurements was used to assess the treatment effects. The results showed that compared to placebo, alcohol slowed the P2 rise rate and reduced its amplitude, with no effects on peak latency. The rise rate is more sensitive to alcohol but more resistant to the adaptation process. Alcohol resembles the response inhibition model acting against the adaptation. The rise rate of the P2 and the OSP waves are affected by alcohol in a similar fashion, suggesting similar neural generative mechanisms.
Highlights
In a recent study, Hernández and Vogel-Sprott (2010a) found that parameters of the omitted stimulus potential (OSP) are sensitive to a moderate acute dose of alcohol
A train-stimulus paradigm offers the opportunity to study the complete set of parameters of the P2 component of the auditory evoked potentials (EPs), their shortterm adaptation process (Prosser et al 1981, Polich et al 1988, Johnson and Yonovits 2007) and their sensitivity to acute dose of alcohol
This paper reports the second part of an experiment aimed to study the acute alcohol effects on the averaged brain potentials, evoked during trains of auditory stimuli; the first part examined alcohol effects on reaction time and the Omitted Stimulus Potential (OSP) (Hernández and Vogel-Sprott 2010a)
Summary
A train-stimulus paradigm offers the opportunity to study the complete set of parameters (i.e. peak latency, amplitude and rate of rise) of the P2 component of the auditory evoked potentials (EPs), their shortterm adaptation process (Prosser et al 1981, Polich et al 1988, Johnson and Yonovits 2007) and their sensitivity to acute dose of alcohol. This paper reports the second part of an experiment aimed to study the acute alcohol effects on the averaged brain potentials, evoked during trains of auditory stimuli; the first part examined alcohol effects on reaction time and the OSP (Hernández and Vogel-Sprott 2010a). Averaged recordings from the first, second and the third stimuli on a train offer a great opportunity to ascertain the shortterm adaptation process of the P2 parameters and their sensitivity to acute alcohol
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