Dysfunctional resting-state EEG microstate correlated with the severity of cigarette exposure in nicotine addiction

Dear editor, Nicotine is a significant cause of severe physical and psychiatric disorders.Evidence suggests that smokers have poorer global cognitive functioning in later life, as well as lower average scores in several cognitive domains, including cognitive flexibility and memory [1].There are large numbers of electroencephalography (EEG) such as eventrelated potential, the late positive potential, the low-theta EEG coherence network studies in nicotine addiction.These traditional EEG methods provided a rich insight into the electrophysiology with a high temporal resolution, however, they did not reflect the transient stable and global functional pattern of the brain.Microstate analysis is an alternative approach based on global topography analysis.EEG microstate as a tool is widely used in neuropsychiatric disease, but this approach has rarely been used in addiction research.