Electroencephalographic signatures of the binge drinking pattern during adolescence and young adulthood: A PRISMA-driven systematic review

Abstract

Research on neurophysiological impairments associated with binge drinking (BD), an excessive but episodic alcohol use pattern, has significantly increased over the last decade. This work is the first to systematically review -following PRISMA guidelines- the empirical evidence regarding the effects of BD on neural activity -assessed by electroencephalography- of adolescents and young adults. A systematic review was conducted in 34 studies (N = 1723). Results indicated that binge drinkers (BDs) showed similar behavioral performance as non/low drinkers. The most solid electrophysiological finding was an augmented P3 amplitude during attention, working memory and inhibition tasks. This increased neural activity suggests the recruitment of additional resources to perform the task at adequate/successful levels, which supports the neurocompensation hypothesis. Similar to alcoholics, BDs also displayed increased reactivity to alcohol-related cues, augmented resting-state electrophysiological signal and reduced activity during error detection -which gives support to the continuum hypothesis. Evidence does not seem to support greater vulnerability to BD in females. Replication and longitudinal studies are required to account for mixed results and to elucidate the extent/direction of the neural impairments associated with BD.

Keywords: Adolescents; Binge drinking; EEG; Electroencephalography; Event-related potentials; Systematic review; Young adults.

Fig. 1

PRISMA flow diagram of the study selection process.

Fig. 2

Number of EEG studies exploring the neurofunctional impairments associated with BD conducted per year.

Fig. 3

Number of articles included in the systematic review and the type of cognitive process analyzed.

Fig. 4

Number of studies exploring the amplitude and latency of each ERP component. Note. VPP: Vertex Positive Potential; ERN: Error-Related Negativity; FRN: Feedback-Related Negativity; LPC: Late Positive Component; Pe: Error Positivity.

Fig. 5

Number of studies, for each ERP component, that found increased (BDs > Cs), decreased (BDs < Cs), different (ΔBDs ≠ ΔCs), and similar (BDs = Cs) amplitude in BDs when compared to Cs (control group or non/low drinkers). Note. *Significant differences between conditions only in one group.

Fig. 6

Schematic depiction of the similarities and differences in the electroencephalographic (EEG) profile of binge drinkers (BDs) and alcohol-dependent individuals. Young BDs seem to display a similar profile as that of alcohol-dependent subjects during (A) resting state, and (B) visualization of alcohol-related pictures. Bottom left (C), representation of the brain overactivation observed in BDs during some cognitive tasks –accompanied by a satisfactory level of performance- presumably related to a neurocompensatory mechanism. Bottom right (D), illustration of how BDs’ electrophysiological activity resembles that of alcoholics as the severity of alcohol use is sustained and/or increases over time.