Abnormal resting-state EEG power and impaired inhibition control in young smokers

•This study explored the relationship between EEG oscillatory brain activity and inhibition control capacity in young smokers.•Young smokers had reduced delta band activity in the frontal, central and posterior cortices and committed more errors in response to NoGo trials.•Frontal delta power was negatively correlated with NoGo errors and central alpha power was positively correlated with NoGo errors in non-smoking controls.•Our findings may suggest that inhibitory control processes were associated with alterations in oscillatory brain activity during the resting state. Exposure to nicotine during adolescence may cause neurophysiological changes and increase the risks of developing nicotine dependence; it can even lead to lifelong smoking. The intake of nicotine may also lead to abnormal patterns of oscillatory brain activity and inhibition control deficits. However, little is known about the specific relationship between oscillatory brain activity during the resting state and inhibition control capacity in young smokers. In the present study, we acquired resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) data from thirty-four young smokers and 39 age-matched non-smoking controls. Inhibition control performance was measured by a Go/NoGo task. Compared with non-smoking controls, we detected reduced low-frequency delta band activity in the frontal, central and posterior cortices of young smokers. Furthermore, young smokers committed more errors in response to infrequent NoGo trials. Notably, we demonstrated that delta absolute power in the frontal region was negatively correlated with NoGo errors and that alpha power in the central region was positively correlated with NoGo errors in non-smoking controls but not in young smokers. These findings may suggest that these inhibitory control processes were associated with alterations in oscillatory brain activity during the resting state. Our findings suggest that alterations of power spectra in delta bands may act as a useful biomarker of inhibitory control performance and provide a scientific basis for the diagnosis and treatment of nicotine addiction in adolescents.