P.5.029 P300 abnormality due to chronic alcohol exposure in patients with alcohol dependence

Abstract

SUMMARY: P300 ABNORMALITY DUE TO CHRONIC ALCOHOL EXPOSURE IN PATIENTS WITH ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE Objective: Scalp recorded P300, the long latency event-related potential (ERP) occurring in response to stimulus is primarily originated from subcortical structures, has been reported to be an indicator of neuronal structure change. In this study, we aimed to examine the probable effect of chronic exposure to alcohol on ERP components in patients with alcohol dependence who had not overt cognitive dysfunction. Method: Twenty-six male patients (mean±SD age: 45.04±5.98 range: 2652) with alcohol dependence diagnosed to DSM-IIIR criteria and 15 male healthy control (mean ± SD age: 43.2±6.96± range: 28-54) were included in the study. Cognitive functions were evaluated with Mini Mental State Examination and Bender Gestalt teats. No overt structural abnormality detected in brain computerized tomography. Auditory ERPs were recorded by odd ball two voice discrimination task procedure in the third week of alcohol withdrawal. Results: We found that the patients had significantly longer P3 latency. P3 amplitude was not different from those of the controls. Conclusions: We concluded that our finding of delay P3 latency may indicate a neuronal structure impairment due to alcohol in patients with alcohol dependence despite the fact that obvious cognitive dysfunction is not observed.