cognitive skills have a positive effect on patients' quality of life, and decrease the severity of clinical symptoms. However, a main problem consists in the fact that some minor cognitive restrictions, even if not observable at the behavioral level, may induce a state of "vulnerability" that can, in some circumstances, lead the patients to relapse. For instance, in alcohol dependence, it is well-known that, despite detoxification cure, psychological intervention and medication, 50 to 90% of patients resume in alcohol consumption within 1 year post-detoxification cure. In this view, it could be really important to find biological markers for even minor cognitive alterations, that can help clinicians to identify which patients are more "at-risk" to relapse, in order to improve treatment through best suited medication and specialized programs of cognitive rehabilitation. In this topic, our aim is to illustrate how and why cognitive event-related potentials (ERPs) may help in different psychopathological populations to adapt the treatment of individual patients on the basis of their specific neuro-cognitive alterations. |