Binge Drinking and Electrophysiology of Attention to Alcohol Stimuli

Abstract

In 2010, 18-24 year olds were the age group with the highest prevalence of binge drinking and Wisconsin was the state with the highest rate of binge drinking in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Beta activity (human brain activity in the 12-30 Hz range) is associated with increased arousal and attention. Increased power in slow Beta (12-20 Hz) and fast Beta (20-35) ranges found in binge-drinking students at rest (no presented stimuli); this may be a biomarker for binge drinking (Courtney & Polich, 2010). The purpose of this study was to look at Beta activity during presentation of alcohol and non-alcohol stimuli in bingeing and non-bingeing student drinkers at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.