EEG differences between male alcoholics in withdrawal and those stabilized in treatment.

Abstract

There is evidence that alcohol abuse and withdrawal produces cerebral impairment, some of which may be temporary and some permanent. This impairment has been found to be relatively specific in terms of brain areas affected. Recently our laboratory reported evidence that psychometrically measured impairment was systematically related to the energy in high frequency (beta-2) bands of the EEG. In the present study we attempted to determine the EEG patterns for male alcoholics undergoing withdrawal in comparison to patients who had been stabilized.