Interhemispheric electroencephalographic coherence as a biological marker in alcoholism

Electroencephalographic coherence scores in 21 teetotaler first-degree relatives of alcoholics, 27 subjects with alcohol dependence and 21 healthy subjects without a family history of alcohol abuse were compared. The relatives had significantly higher coherence scores in the frontal and parietal leads than the alcoholics and in the frontal and centroparietal leads than in the healthy subjects. This might represent a trait marker of resilience in subjects at high risk for the development of alcoholism.