Middle-latency auditory evoked potentials in children at high risk for alcoholism.

Obxectivo: No contexto dun estudo de alto risco ao alcoholismo, exploráronse os potenciais evocados auditivos de latencia media (PEALM) en fillos de alcohólicos. Material e método: Presentouse unha serie de ‘clicks’ (0,1 ms, 60 dB SL, 1,1/s) para rexistrar as ondas Pa e Pb dos PEALM en 15 fillos de alcohólicos con historia familiar multixeneracional de alcoholismo e 17 participantes de control, de entre 10 e 14 anos de idade. Resultados: A latencia de Pb foi menor no grupo de alto risco que no de control, e houbo tamén unha interacción significativa entre o grupo de risco e a idade na latencia de Pa. A amplitude de Pa foi menor nos fillos de alcohólicos. Conclusións: As características dos PEALM dos suxeitos de alto risco non replican o padrón de anomalías observado previamente en alcohólicos crónicos, que se supón que son unha consecuencia dos efectos neurotóxicos do etanol. Sen embargo, os resultados indicaron a existencia de diferenzas nos PEALM entre os fillos de alcohólicos e os controis, indicativas dun padrón anómalo de transmisión da información de tálamo a córtex que debe analizarse en maior profundidade con mostras de maior tamaño e cun rango de idades máis extenso.Purpose: In the course of a high-risk study for alcoholism, the middle-latency auditory evoked potentials (MAEPs) of children of alcoholics were explored. Material and methods: A series of auditory clicks (0.1 ms, 60 dB SL, 1.1/s) were used to record the Pa and Pb peaks of the MAEPs in 15 children of alcoholics with a multigenerational family history of alcoholism, and 17 control subjects, ranging from 10 to 14 years of age. Results: The latency of Pb was shorter in the high-risk than in the control group, and there was also a significant risk group by age interaction on Pa latency. The amplitude of Pa was smaller in the children of alcoholics. Conclusions: The characteristics of the MAEPs of the high-risk subjects did not match the pattern of abnormalities previously observed in chronic alcoholics, which are supposed to be a consequence of the neurotoxic effects of ethanol. Nonetheless, the results showed significant differences in MAEPs between children of alcoholics and controls, pointing to an anomalous pattern of information transmission from thalamus to cortex that should be further analyzed using larger samples in a broader age range.