Effects of alcohol on tests of executive functioning in men and women: a dose response examination

Changes in processing speed during early abstinence from alcohol dependence

BACKGROUND

Processing speed is a task-independent construct underpinning more complex goal-related abilities. Processing speed is impaired in alcohol dependence (AD) and is linked to relapse, as are the functions it underpins. Reliable measurement of processing speed may allow tracking of AD recovery trajectories and identify patients requiring additional support.

AIMS

To assess changes in reaction time (RT) from baseline (at the start of a detoxification programme) across early abstinence.

METHODS

Vibrotactile RT was assessed in early recovery between days 3 and 7 of treatment in 66 individuals with AD (25 females; aged 19-74, 44.60 ± 10.60 years) and against 35 controls tested on one occasion (19 females; 41.00 ± 13.60), using two multivariate multiple regressions. A mixed multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) of available AD data (n = 45) assessed change in RT between timepoints and between treatment settings (outpatient vs inpatient).

RESULTS

The group (AD vs control) significantly predicted choice RT at baseline and follow-up but did not significantly predict simple RT or RT variability, which is inconsistent with previous findings. At follow-up, mental fatigue was also predicted by the group, and MANCOVA indicated that this had worsened in inpatients but improved in outpatients.

CONCLUSIONS

Recovery of RT measures so early in the treatment journey was not in line with previous research which indicates persisting deficits. The interaction between setting and timepoint indicates that despite being typically less medically complex, outpatients require ongoing support and monitoring during their recovery.

The Influence of Alcohol Consumption on Gambling: Do the Laboratory Study Findings Generalize to Natural Environments?

A recent meta-analysis of laboratory studies on the effects of acute alcohol consumption on risk-taking did not support that acute alcohol consumption increased risk-taking. Questions about whether this finding generalizes to those gambling in naturalistic settings remain. Therefore, we examined the gambling behavior of frequent gamblers who did and did not consume alcohol while gambling. Participants were 769 weekly gamblers (66% male) who were U.S. residents and at least 18 years old. Participants recruited via MTurk completed measures through the Qualtrics survey platform. Significant predictors of gambling under the influence of alcohol were drinking days per month and PGSI score. A linear regression model predicting percentage of time spent gambling under the influence of alcohol revealed that gambling days per week, gambling hours per day, PGSI score, and drinking days per month were significant predictors. Finally, significant predictors of spending at least 50% of gambling time gambling under the influence of alcohol included: gambling hours per day, PGSI score, and drinking days per month. These findings were consistent with the recent meta-analysis of laboratory studies. However, finding that gambling disorder symptoms and overall rates of alcohol consumption were related to gambling under the influence of alcohol replicated the frequently found relation of alcohol problems among those who also exhibit gambling problems.

Does acute alcohol consumption increase risk-taking while gambling? A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIMS

To estimate the effect of acute alcohol consumption on risk-taking while gambling, examine blood alcohol concentration as a moderator and explore possible moderators of this effect.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

A systematic review and meta-analysis was completed. A Boolean search strategy was used to identify studies that included (a) alcohol consumption as an independent variable; (b) a gambling or risk-taking task; (c) a control or placebo comparison; (d) human participants; and (e) English publications. Descriptive information, sample characteristics and experimental data were extracted from each study. Searched databases included: PsycINFO, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane Library and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Included as participants were experiments that compared the effects of alcohol and non-alcoholic or placebo beverages on risk-taking while gambling.

MEASUREMENT

Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3.3.070 was used. Standardized mean differences of risk-taking while gambling between the experimental and control conditions were calculated when studies did not report effect sizes. Random-effects models were used for overall effect and meta-regressions while mixed-effects models were used for subgroup analyses.

FINDINGS

Twenty articles containing 47 alcohol versus control comparisons met inclusion criteria. The overall Hedges'g for the difference between groups consuming alcohol and groups consuming a placebo or non-alcoholic drink control was 0.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.07, 0.12, p = 0.60, indicating no significant difference. Larger effect sizes were found for studies using non-alcoholic control drinks (Hedges' g = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.58) compared to placebo beverages (Hedges' g = -0.03, 95% CI = -0.13, 0.06), Cochran's Q = 4.67, p = 0.03.

CONCLUSIONS

Finding that acute alcohol consumption had no reliable effect on risk-taking while gambling was consistent with existing animal research. No support was found for the relation between alcohol dose and risk-taking. The significantly larger effect size for experiments using non-alcoholic versus placebo beverages suggests the potential role of expectancy effects.

Analgesic Effect of Alcohol Mediates the Association between Alcohol Intoxication and Deliberate Self-Harm

We examined whether the analgesic effect of alcohol mediates the association between alcohol and deliberate self-harm (DSH) using data from a larger study on alcohol effects. Men (n = 106) and women (n = 104) low-risk alcohol drinkers (ages M = 26.00, SD = 6.98) recruited from the community who had no suicide attempt or episode of deliberate self-harm within the past year were randomly assigned to either a placebo drink condition or a drink calibrated to reach approximately .050%, .075%, or .100% blood alcohol concentration. Notable within-condition BAC variability, as well as overlap between conditions, suggested that BAC would be a more accurate indicator of intoxication compared to condition assignment. Pain tolerance was assessed by increasingly intense 1-s shocks delivered via fingertip electrodes. Self-reported pain associated with the pain tolerance index was also examined. A laboratory task of DSH, the Self-Aggression Paradigm, was then completed, with DSH operationalized as the number of self-administered shocks the participant was led to believe were twice the intensity of his or her pain tolerance and could cause "minor tissue damage that would quickly heal." A negative binomial parallel mediational model for count data revealed that pain tolerance, but not self-report pain, mediated the effect of alcohol on DSH. As such, the current study provides preliminary experimental evidence that the analgesic effect of alcohol is partially responsible for link between alcohol intoxication and deliberate self-harm.

The Relationship between Alcohol Hangover Severity, Sleep and Cognitive Performance; a Naturalistic Study

Alcohol hangover (AH) has been associated with poor sleep due to the negative effects of alcohol intoxication on sleep quantity and sleep quality. The aim of the current study was to further explore the relationship between AH severity and sleep using a naturalistic study design. A further aim was to determine whether quantitative aspects of sleep were a mediating influence on the relationship between AH severity and cognitive performance. As part of the naturalistic study design, 99 drinkers were recruited following a night of drinking in an Australian state capital, with breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) measured as participants were leaving the entertainment district. The following morning at home, participants answered online questions regarding their drinking behaviour on the previous evening, current AH symptoms and sleep quality. Participants also completed an online version of the Trail-Making Test B (TMT-B) to assess cognitive performance. The findings reveal the duration of nightly awakenings to be negatively related to six individual AH symptoms as well as overall AH severity. The number of nightly awakenings, sleep quality and total sleep time correlated with four AH symptoms including overall AH severity. Total AH severity accounted for a moderate amount of variance (11%) in the time to complete the TMT-B. These findings confirm that alcohol consumption negatively affects sleep, which is related to higher next-day hangover severity ratings and poorer cognitive performance.

Reduced Working Memory is Associated with Heavier Alcohol Consumption History, Role Impairment and Executive Function Difficulties

Both HIV status and heavy alcohol use have been associated with reduced cognitive function, particularly in the domains of working memory and executive function. It is unclear what aspects of working memory and executive function are associated with HIV status and heavy alcohol use and whether performance on these measures are associated with functional impairment. We examined the relationship between HIV, history of heavy alcohol consumption, and HIV/alcohol interaction on speeded tests of frontal inhibitory abilities, a working memory task related to mental manipulation of letters and numbers, cognitive flexibility, and measures of functional impairment. Study participants included 284 individuals (151 HIV +) recruited from two different studies focusing on HIV associated brain dysfunction, one specific to the effects of alcohol, the other specific to the effects of aging. HIV status was not independently associated with working memory and executive function measures. Higher level of alcohol consumption was associated with reduced performance on Letter Number Sequencing. Poorer Letter Number Sequencing performance was associated with role impairment (an inability to do certain kinds of work, housework, or schoolwork) and executive function difficulties. Future studies should examine causal associations and interventions targeting working memory abilities.

Impulsivity and the effects of alcohol in women with a history of childhood sexual abuse: A pilot study

Women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are at greater risk to develop alcohol use disorders. Whereas impulsivity has been postulated as a behavioral mechanism linking childhood trauma and alcohol use, few studies have comprehensively examined impulsivity in women with CSA. We compared women with a history of CSA (n = 21) and control women who did not endorse CSA or other major traumas (CON; n = 21) on self-report measures of impulsivity and risk taking. Additionally, performance on behavioral impulsivity and subjective response to alcohol were examined before and after acute alcohol (0.00, 0.50, 0.75 g/kg) administration. Overall, women with CSA responded more impulsively than CON women on the immediate and delayed-memory tasks (measures of response initiation) and the GoStop task (a measure of response inhibition). Whereas alcohol produced dose-related increases in impulsive responding on the immediate memory task in both groups, alcohol-induced increases in response inhibition on the GoStop task were evident only in the CSA group. In contrast, women with CSA exhibited less risk taking than the CON group on the balloon analogue risk task. Alcohol produced dose-related increases on several subjective response measures (e.g., alcohol liking) in both groups; however, these ratings tended to be greater in women with CSA. These preliminary data suggest that women with CSA may be more impulsive. Importantly, impulsivity can lead to hazardous drinking, and alcohol consumption can further increase impulsivity, putting women with CSA at increased risk for sexual revictimization, particularly in the context of alcohol use. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Moderate acute alcohol use impairs intentional inhibition rather than stimulus-driven inhibition

Moderate alcohol intake may impair stimulus-driven inhibition of motor actions in go/no-go and stop-signal tasks. Exposure to alcohol-related cues has been found to exacerbate this impairment. By contrast, the effect of alcohol use on intentional inhibition, or the capacity to voluntarily suspend an action, has rarely been investigated. We examined whether and how moderate alcohol intake affects stimulus-driven inhibition (stop-signal task) and intentional inhibition (chasing bottles task), during exposure to alcohol-related stimuli. One hundred and eleven participants were randomly assigned to an alcohol (male: 0.55 g/kg, female: 0.45 g/kg), placebo, or control group. For the stop-signal task, ANOVAs were performed on stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) and go RT with Pharmacological and Expectancy Effects of Alcohol, Stimulus Category (alcohol-related or neutral), and Sex as factors. For the chasing bottles task, multilevel survival analysis was performed to predict whether and when intentional inhibition was initiated, with the same factors. For the stop-signal task, Sex moderated the Pharmacological Effect of Alcohol on SSRT: only for females, alcohol consumption shortened SSRT. In the non-alcohol groups, males had shorter SSRT than females. Concerning intentional inhibition, the alcohol group initiated intentional inhibition less often, especially when stimuli were non-alcohol related. These findings indicate that (1) stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition reflect different aspects of response inhibition; (2) moderate alcohol intake negatively affects intentional inhibition (but not stimulus-driven inhibition). Speculatively, the observed impairment in intentional inhibition might underlie the lack of control over alcohol drinking behavior after a priming dose. This study highlights the potential role of intentional inhibition in the development of addiction.

Acute effects of alcohol on error-elicited negative affect during a cognitive control task

RATIONALE

Alcohol intoxication can dampen negative affective reactions to stressors. Recently, it has been proposed that these acute anxiolytic effects of alcohol may extend to dampening of negative affective reactions to error commission during cognitive control tasks. Nonetheless, empirical verification of this claim is lacking.

OBJECTIVES

Test the acute effect of alcohol on negative affective reactions to errors during an effort-demanding cognitive control task.

METHODS

Healthy, young adult social drinkers (N = 96 [49 women], 21-36 years old) were randomly assigned to consume alcohol (0.80 g/kg; n = 33 [15 female]), active placebo (0.04 g/kg; n = 33 [18 women]), or a non-alcoholic control beverage (n = 30 [16 women]) before completing the Eriksen flanker task. Corrugator supercilii (Corr) activation, a psychophysiological index of negative affect, was tracked across the task. Two neurophysiological reactions to errors, the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe), were also measured.

RESULTS

Erroneous actions increased Corr activation in the control and (to a lesser extent) placebo groups, but not in the alcohol group. Error-induced Corr activation was coupled to ERN and Pe in the control, but not in the alcohol and placebo groups. Error-induced Corr activation was not coupled to post-error performance adjustments in any group.

CONCLUSIONS

The ability of alcohol to dampen error-related negative affect was verified. It was also shown that placebo alone can disrupt coupling of affective and (neuro)cognitive reactions to errors. Although its behavioral relevance remains to be demonstrated, more attention should be paid to the role of affect in action monitoring and cognitive control processes.

Different aspects of impulsivity in chronic alcohol use disorder with and without comorbid problem gambling

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and problem gambling are highly comorbid disorders. This study aims to explore the role of four aspects of impulsivity (trait concept of impulsivity, choice impulsivity, impulsive aggression and response inhibition/decision-making) in long-term chronic AUD patients with and without problem or pathological gambling symptoms.

METHODS

Cognitively intact chronic AUD patients were enrolled with (n = 32) and without (n = 71) problem gambling symptoms in an inpatient clinic for chronic alcohol users. Multiple facets of impulsivity, cognitive ability, psychopathological symptoms, alcohol and gambling severity were measured.

RESULTS

Chronic AUD patients with gambling disorder symptoms showed longer lifetime alcohol consumption, more severe alcohol use and higher psychopathological symptom severity than AUD patients without gambling symptoms. Gambling severity correlated with overall trait impulsivity, but not with choice impulsivity, impulsive aggression or cognitive impulsivity with controlling for lifetime alcohol consumption, lifetime alcohol use and psychopathological symptom severity. High trait impulsivity and non-planning was associated with comorbid gambling symptoms in AUD patients, which was independent of the level of intelligence, age and psychopathological symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Comorbid gambling disorder symptoms in chronic AUD was connected to more severe alcohol-related variables. Higher trait impulsivity was also linked with gambling disorder symptoms in patients with chronic AUD. This accents the need of special focus on comorbid GD symptoms in AUD, since prognosis and treatment for them may vary.

History of Alcohol Consumption and HIV Status Related to Functional Connectivity Differences in the Brain During Working Memory Performance

BACKGROUND

Poorer working memory function has previously been associated with alcohol misuse, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive status, and risky behavior. Poorer working memory performance relates to alterations in specific brain networks.

OBJECTIVE

The current study examined if there was a relationship between brain networks involved in working memory and reported level of alcohol consumption during an individual's period of heaviest use. Furthermore, we examined whether HIV status and the interaction between HIV and alcohol consumption was associated with differences in these brain networks.

METHODS

Fifty adults, 26 of whom were HIV positive, engaged in an n-back working memory task (0-back and 2-back trials) administered in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The Kreek- McHugh-Schluger-Kellogg (KMSK) scale of alcohol consumption was used to characterize an individual's period of heaviest use and correlates well with their risk for alcohol dependence. Connectivity analyses were conducted using data collected during n-back task.

RESULTS

Functional connectivity differences associated with greater alcohol consumption included negative connectivity, primarily from parietal attention networks to frontal networks. Greater alcohol consumption was also associated with positive connectivity from working memory nodes to the precuneus and paracingulate. HIV positive status was associated with more nodes of negative functional connectivity relative to alcohol consumption history alone, particularly in the frontoparietal networks. The HIV positive individuals with heavier drinking history related to negative fronto-parietal connectivity, along with positive connectivity from working memory nodes to mesolimbic regions.

CONCLUSION

Findings allow for a better understanding of brain networks affected by HIV and alcohol and may provide avenues for interventions.

Self-Expression While Drinking Alcohol: Alcohol Influences Personality Expression During First Impressions

People are motivated to be perceived both positively and accurately and, therefore, approach social settings and adopt means that allow them to reach these goals. We investigated whether alcohol consumption helps or hinders the positivity and accuracy of social impressions using a thin-slicing paradigm to better understand the effects of alcohol in social settings and the influence of alcohol on self-expression. These possibilities were tested in a sample of 720 participants randomly assigned to consume an alcohol, placebo, or control beverage while engaged in conversation in three-person groups. We found support for the hypothesis that alcohol (compared with placebo or control) increased the positivity of observers' personality expression, but did not find support for the hypothesis that alcohol increased the accuracy of personality expression. These findings contribute to our understanding of the social consequences of alcohol consumption, shedding new light on the interpersonal benefits that alcohol can foster.

The neural correlates of alcohol-related aggression

Alcohol intoxication is implicated in approximately half of all violent crimes. Over the past several decades, numerous theories have been proposed to account for the influence of alcohol on aggression. Nearly all of these theories imply that altered functioning in the prefrontal cortex is a proximal cause. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, 50 healthy young men consumed either a low dose of alcohol or a placebo and completed an aggression paradigm against provocative and nonprovocative opponents. Provocation did not affect neural responses. However, relative to sober participants, during acts of aggression, intoxicated participants showed decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex, caudate, and ventral striatum, but heightened activation in the hippocampus. Among intoxicated participants, but not among sober participants, aggressive behavior was positively correlated with activation in the medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These results support theories that posit a role for prefrontal cortical dysfunction as an important factor in intoxicated aggression.

Acute alcohol effects on impulsive choice in adolescents

BACKGROUND

Neurodevelopmental and alcohol-induced changes in decision-making have been proposed to critically influence impulsive behaviour in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

This study tested the influence of acute alcohol administration on impulsive choice in adolescents.

METHODS

Fifty-four males aged 18-19 years were tested in a single-blind placebo-controlled cross-over design. During alcohol administration (infusion resulting in an arterial blood alcohol concentration of 80 mg%) and placebo condition (saline infusion), participants performed a task battery providing estimates of delay discounting, probability discounting for gains, for losses and loss aversion, and also rated subjectively experienced alcohol effects. Additionally, baseline alcohol consumption (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, blood phosphatidylethanol levels), motives (Drinking Motive Questionnaire, Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire and Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale), family history and self-report measures of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Substance Use Risk Profile Scale) were provided.

RESULTS

No overall effects of treatment on choice behaviour were found. However, individual differences were observed. In the alcohol condition, more impulsive choice tendencies for delay discounting were associated with higher subjectively experienced alcohol effects. Further, higher risk aversion for probabilistic gains and higher loss aversion during alcohol condition were related to higher levels of real-life alcohol consumption and a family history of alcohol problems, respectively. Finally, the time to make a decision was substantially shortened for choices involving negative prospects.

CONCLUSIONS

Contrary to common beliefs, acute alcohol intoxication did not generally incite impulsive decision-making. It rather appears that alcohol-induced behavioural changes in adolescents vary considerably depending on prior experiences and subjective effects of alcohol.

Drunk decisions: Alcohol shifts choice from habitual towards goal-directed control in adolescent intermediate-risk drinkers

BACKGROUND

Studies in humans and animals suggest a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision-making in addiction. We therefore tested whether acute alcohol administration reduces goal-directed and promotes habitual decision-making, and whether these effects are moderated by self-reported drinking problems.

METHODS

Fifty-three socially drinking males completed the two-step task in a randomised crossover design while receiving an intravenous infusion of ethanol (blood alcohol level=80 mg%), or placebo. To minimise potential bias by long-standing heavy drinking and subsequent neuropsychological impairment, we tested 18- to 19-year-old adolescents.

RESULTS

Alcohol administration consistently reduced habitual, model-free decisions, while its effects on goal-directed, model-based behaviour varied as a function of drinking problems measured with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. While adolescents with low risk for drinking problems (scoring <8) exhibited an alcohol-induced numerical reduction in goal-directed choices, intermediate-risk drinkers showed a shift away from habitual towards goal-directed decision-making, such that alcohol possibly even improved their performance.

CONCLUSIONS

We assume that alcohol disrupted basic cognitive functions underlying habitual and goal-directed decisions in low-risk drinkers, thereby enhancing hasty choices. Further, we speculate that intermediate-risk drinkers benefited from alcohol as a negative reinforcer that reduced unpleasant emotional states, possibly displaying a novel risk factor for drinking in adolescence.

Alcohol effects on response inhibition: Variability across tasks and individuals

Considerable research has investigated the acute effects of alcohol on response inhibition, but a number of issues remain unresolved. Given that most studies use only a single laboratory task to assess inhibition, it is often difficult to determine whether alcohol's effects are task specific or generalize across measures of the same construct. Moreover, relatively few studies have directly compared effects of alcohol under ascending and descending blood alcohol concentrations (BACs), and those that have often failed to disentangle BAC limb effects from the effects of repeated testing. This study was intended to provide a test of alcohol's effects on behavioral inhibition using multiple laboratory measures in a relatively large sample and comparing effects under ascending and descending BAC. Young adults (N = 216) completed three commonly used inhibition tasks (Stroop, antisaccade, and stop-signal) at baseline and again 1-3 weeks later under one of three beverage conditions (alcohol, placebo or control) and one of two BAC limb conditions (ascending/descending or descending only). Findings indicated considerable specificity in alcohol's effects. Relative to control and placebo conditions, antisaccade performance suffered under both ascending and descending BAC and stop-signal reaction time (RT) suffered only under descending BAC. The Stroop RT interference effect was not affected by alcohol, though alcohol did impair response accuracy on incongruent Stroop trials. Baseline performance moderated effects of alcohol on both antisaccade accuracy and Stroop interference, suggesting the importance of individual differences. The current findings suggest that more specificity is required in characterizing acute effects of alcohol on inhibitory control. (PsycINFO Database Record

Dutch courage? Effects of acute alcohol consumption on self-ratings and observer ratings of foreign language skills

AIMS

A popular belief is that alcohol improves the ability to speak in a foreign language. The effect of acute alcohol consumption on perceived foreign language performance and actual foreign language performance in foreign language learners has not been investigated. The aim of the current study was to test the effects of acute alcohol consumption on self-rated and observer-rated verbal foreign language performance in participants who have recently learned this language.

METHODS

Fifty native German speakers who had recently learned Dutch were randomized to receive either a low dose of alcohol or a control beverage that contained no alcohol. Following the experimental manipulation, participants took part in a standardized discussion in Dutch with a blinded experimenter. The discussion was audio-recorded and foreign language skills were subsequently rated by two native Dutch speakers who were blind to the experimental condition (observer-rating). Participants also rated their own individual Dutch language skills during the discussion (self-rating).

RESULTS

Participants who consumed alcohol had significantly better observer-ratings for their Dutch language, specifically better pronunciation, compared with those who did not consume alcohol. However, alcohol had no effect on self-ratings of Dutch language skills.

CONCLUSIONS

Acute alcohol consumption may have beneficial effects on the pronunciation of a foreign language in people who have recently learned that language.

Effect of alcohol dose on deliberate self-harm in men and women

OBJECTIVE

Nonexperimental survey and field research support the notion that alcohol use may be associated with deliberate self-harm (DSH) across the spectrum of lethality, from nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) through suicide. Nonexperimental studies, however, provide limited information about potential causal relationships between alcohol consumption and DSH. Two previous experiments showed that a relatively high-dose of alcohol increases the likelihood of engaging in DSH in men, with DSH defined by the self-administration of a "painful" shock (the self-aggression paradigm [SAP]; Berman & Walley, 2003; McCloskey & Berman, 2003). In this study, we examined whether (a) lower doses of alcohol also elicit DSH, (b) this effect occurs for women as well as men, and (c) individual differences in past nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) moderate alcohol's effects on DSH.

METHOD

Nonalcohol dependent men and women (N = 210) were assigned either to .00%, .05%, .075%, or .100% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) drink conditions and completed a self-rating scale of NSSI (the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory [DSHI]; Gratz, 2001). As in previous SAP studies, DSH was operationalized by shock setting behavior during a competitive reaction time (RT) game.

RESULTS

Overall, a greater proportion of participants in the .075% and .100% (but not .050%) alcohol conditions self-selected a "painful" shock to administer compared to participants in the placebo condition. NSSI predicted self-administration of painful shocks, but did not moderate the alcohol effect.

CONCLUSIONS

Results provide experimental evidence to support the notion that interventions for self-harm should include processes to monitor and limit alcohol intake. (PsycINFO Database Record

Effects of acute alcohol intoxication on executive functions controlling self-regulated behavior

Alcohol consumption may lead to deficits in the executive functions that govern self-regulation. These deficits could lead to risk-taking behaviors; therefore, it is important to determine the magnitude of these deficits on executive functioning. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the acute effects of alcohol on three of the executive functions that are hypothesized to affect self-regulation, which are inhibition, set shifting, and working memory, using a mixed-methods study design. The participants were 75 moderate or heavy drinkers between the ages of 21 and 35 who were randomized into one of three beverage conditions (control, placebo, or 0.65-g alcohol dose/kg body weight). Performance on working memory, set shifting, and inhibition were measured pre- and post-beverage consumption. The results showed only a significant interaction in the working memory data, as there was an increase in performance post-beverage relative to pre-beverage for the control participants as compared to the alcohol and placebo participants. It was concluded that the dose of alcohol (BAC = 0.063%) given to moderate to heavy drinkers was not sufficient to cause significant impairment in the executive functions tested. The results were further discussed and methodological concerns were considered, such as the low BAC achieved, practice effects, and insensitivity of tasks.

Acute alcohol effects on set-shifting and its moderation by baseline individual differences: a latent variable analysis

AIMS

To compare the acute effects of alcohol on set-shifting task performance (relative to sober baseline performance) during ascending and descending limb breath alcohol concentration (BrAC), as well as possible moderation of these effects by baseline individual differences.

DESIGN

Shifting performance was tested during an initial baseline and a subsequent drinking session, during which participants were assigned randomly to one of three beverage conditions (alcohol, placebo or control) and one of two BrAC limb conditions [ascending and descending (A/D) or descending-only (D-only)].

SETTING

A human experimental laboratory on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, MO, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 222 moderate-drinking adults (ages 21-30 years) recruited from Columbia, MO and tested between 2010 and 2013.

MEASUREMENTS

The outcome measure was performance on set-shifting tasks under the different beverage and limb conditions. Shifting performance assessed at baseline was a key moderator.

FINDINGS

Although performance improved across sessions, this improvement was reduced in the alcohol compared with no-alcohol groups (post-drink latent mean comparison across groups, all Ps ≤ 0.05), and this effect was more pronounced in individuals with lower pre-drink performance (comparison of pre- to post-drink path coefficients across groups, all Ps ≤ 0.05). In the alcohol group, performance was better on descending compared with ascending limb (P ≤ 0.001), but descending limb performance did not differ across the A/D and D-only groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Practising tasks before drinking moderates the acute effects of alcohol on the ability to switch between tasks. Greater impairment in shifting ability on descending compared with ascending breath alcohol concentration is not related to task practice.

Separate and joint effects of alcohol and caffeine on conflict monitoring and adaptation

RATIONALE

Caffeine is commonly believed to offset the acute effects of alcohol, but some evidence suggests that cognitive processes remain impaired when caffeine and alcohol are coadministered.

OBJECTIVES

No previous study has investigated the separate and joint effects of alcohol and caffeine on conflict monitoring and adaptation, processes thought to be critical for self-regulation. This was the purpose of the current study.

METHODS

Healthy, young adult social drinkers recruited from the community completed a flanker task after consuming one of four beverages in a 2 × 2 experimental design: Alcohol + caffeine, alcohol + placebo caffeine, placebo alcohol + caffeine, or placebo alcohol + placebo caffeine. Accuracy, response time, and the amplitude of the N2 component of the event-related potential (ERP), a neural index of conflict monitoring, were examined as a function of whether or not conflict was present (i.e., whether or not flankers were compatible with the target) on both the previous trial and the current trial.

RESULTS

Alcohol did not abolish conflict monitoring or adaptation. Caffeine eliminated conflict adaptation in sequential trials but also enhanced neural conflict monitoring. The combined effect of alcohol and caffeine was apparent only in how previous conflict affected the neural conflict monitoring response.

CONCLUSIONS

Together, the findings suggest that caffeine leads to exaggeration of attentional resource utilization, which could provide short-term benefits but lead to problems conserving resources for when they are most needed.

The Synergistic Impact of Excessive Alcohol Drinking and Cigarette Smoking upon Prospective Memory

The independent use of excessive amounts of alcohol or persistent cigarette smoking have been found to have a deleterious impact upon Prospective Memory (PM: remembering future intentions and activities), although to date, the effect of their concurrent use upon PM is yet to be explored. The present study investigated the impact of the concurrent use of drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and smoking cigarettes (a "Polydrug" group) in comparison to the combined effect of the single use of these substances upon PM. The study adopted a single factorial independent groups design. The Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT) is a test of both time-based and event-based PM and was used here to measure PM. The CAMPROMPT was administered to 125 adults; an excessive alcohol user group (n = 40), a group of smokers who drink very little alcohol (n = 20), a combined user group (the "Polydrug" group) who drink excessively and smoke cigarettes (n = 40) and a non-drinker/low alcohol consumption control group (n = 25). The main findings revealed that the Polydrug users recalled significantly fewer time-based PM tasks than both excessive alcohol users p < 0.001 and smokers p = 0.013. Polydrug users (mean = 11.47) also remembered significantly fewer event-based PM tasks than excessive alcohol users p < 0.001 and smokers p = 0.013. With regards to the main aim of the study, the polydrug users exhibited significantly greater impaired time-based PM than the combined effect of single excessive alcohol users and cigarette smokers p = 0.033. However, no difference was observed between polydrug users and the combined effect of single excessive alcohol users and cigarette smokers in event-based PM p = 0.757. These results provide evidence that concurrent (polydrug) use of these two substances has a synergistic effect in terms of deficits upon time-based PM. The observation that combined excessive drinking and cigarette smoking leads to a greater impairment in time-based PM may be of paramount importance, given the key role PM plays in everyday independent living.

Effects of alcohol-induced working memory decline on alcohol consumption and adverse consequences of use

RATIONALE

Alcohol use appears to decrease executive function acutely in a dose-dependent manner, and lower baseline executive function appears to contribute to problematic alcohol use. However, no studies, to our knowledge, have examined the relationship between individual differences in working memory (a subcomponent of executive function) after alcohol consumption and drinking behaviors and consequences.

OBJECTIVES

The current study assessed the relationship between drinking behavior, alcohol-related consequences, and alcohol-induced changes in working memory (as assessed by Trail Making Test-B).

METHOD

Participants recruited from the community (n = 41), 57.3 % male, mean age 39.2, took part in a three-session, within-subjects, repeated-measures design. Participants were administered a placebo, 0.4 g/kg, or 0.8 g/kg dose of alcohol. Working memory, past 30-day alcohol consumption, and consequences of alcohol use were measured at baseline; working memory was measured again after each beverage administration.

RESULTS

Poorer working memory after alcohol administration (controlling for baseline working memory) was significantly associated with a greater number of drinks consumed per drinking day. Additionally, we observed a significant indirect relationship between the degree of alcohol-induced working memory decline and adverse consequences of alcohol use, which was mediated through greater average drinks per drinking day.

CONCLUSIONS

It is possible that greater individual susceptibility to alcohol-induced working memory decline may limit one's ability to moderate alcohol consumption as evidenced by greater drinks per drinking day and that this results in more adverse consequences of alcohol use.

Effects of alcohol intake on time-based event expectations

Previous evidence suggests that alcohol affects various forms of temporal cognition. However, there are presently no studies investigating whether and how alcohol affects on time-based event expectations. Here, we investigated the effects of alcohol on time-based event expectations. Seventeen healthy volunteers, aged between 19 and 36 years, participated. We employed a variable foreperiod paradigm with temporally predictable events, mimicking a computer game. Error rate and reaction time were analyzed in placebo (0 g/kg), low dose (0.2 g/kg) and high dose (0.6 g/kg) conditions. We found that alcohol intake did not eliminate, but substantially reduced, the formation of time-based expectancy. This effect was stronger for high doses, than for low doses, of alcohol. As a result of our studies, we have evidence that alcohol intake impairs time-based event expectations. The mechanism by which the level of alcohol impairs time-based event expectations needs to be clarified by future research.

Alcohol Doesn't Always Compromise Cognitive Function: Exploring Moderate Doses in Young Adults

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to clarify inconsistent findings regarding the acute cognitive effects of subintoxicating alcohol doses (i.e., <80 mg/dl) by controlling for and evaluating variables that might modulate dose-related outcomes.

METHOD

The current study examined the effects of sex/gender and alcohol concentration on select cognitive functions in 94 individuals (49 men) between 25 and 35 years of age. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three dose conditions: target peak breath alcohol concentration of 0 mg/dl (placebo), 40 mg/dl (low), or 65 mg/dl (moderate). After beverage consumption, they completed tasks assessing psychomotor, set-shifting, and working memory ability.

RESULTS

Analyses revealed no significant effect of dose for any cognitive domain. A trend-level effect of dose on psychomotor performance was observed, with the low-dose group performing somewhat better than the moderate-dose and placebo groups. No sex main effects or interactions were revealed.

CONCLUSIONS

Consistent with our previous studies, these data suggest that low and moderate doses of alcohol may not compromise cognitive ability in non-problem drinkers under certain task conditions. Given the outcomes, sex differences cannot be meaningfully addressed. Future consideration of potentially influential variables and assessment of similarly well-defined cohorts might yield a clearer interpretation of alcohol's behavioral consequences.

Model-based and model-free decisions in alcohol dependence

BACKGROUND

Human and animal work suggests a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision-making in addiction. However, the evidence for this in human alcohol dependence is as yet inconclusive.

METHODS

Twenty-six healthy controls and 26 recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients underwent behavioral testing with a 2-step task designed to disentangle goal-directed and habitual response patterns.

RESULTS

Alcohol-dependent patients showed less evidence of goal-directed choices than healthy controls, particularly after losses. There was no difference in the strength of the habitual component. The group differences did not survive controlling for performance on the Digit Symbol Substitution Task.

CONCLUSION

Chronic alcohol use appears to selectively impair goal-directed function, rather than promoting habitual responding. It appears to do so particularly after nonrewards, and this may be mediated by the effects of alcohol on more general cognitive functions subserved by the prefrontal cortex.

Long-term moderate alcohol consumption does not exacerbate age-related cognitive decline in healthy, community-dwelling older adults

Recent census data has found that roughly 40% of adults 65 years and older not only consume alcohol but also drink more of it than previous generations. Older drinkers are more vulnerable than younger counterparts to the psychoactive effects of alcohol due to natural biological changes that occur with aging. This study was specifically designed to measure the effect of long-term moderate alcohol consumption on cognitive health in older adult drinkers. An extensive battery of validated tests commonly used in aging and substance use literature was used to measure performance in specific cognitive domains, including working memory and attention. An age (young, old) (*) alcohol consumption (light, moderate) factorial study design was used to evaluate the main effects of age and alcohol consumption on cognitive performance. The focus of the study was then limited to light and moderate older drinkers, and whether or not long-term moderate alcohol consumption exacerbated age-related cognitive decline. No evidence was found to support the idea that long-term moderate alcohol consumption in older adults exacerbates age-related cognitive decline. Findings were specific to healthy community dwelling social drinkers in older age and they should not be generalized to individuals with other consumption patterns, like heavy drinkers, binge drinkers or ex-drinkers.

Executive Functioning in Alcohol Use Studies: A Brief Review of Findings and Challenges in Assessment

There is a wealth of research about the links between executive functioning (EF) and alcohol use. However, difficulty may arise in interpreting findings because of the variability between studies regarding the specific components of EF measured, as well as the variability of tasks used to examine each EF construct. The current article considers each of these problems within the context of a literature review that focuses on two topics: (1) the efficacy of EF in predicting alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences, and (2) the effect of acute alcohol intoxication on EF task performance. An additional goal was to identify and describe commonly used EF measures with the intention of providing alcohol researchers information on the assessment of different EF domains. Our findings indicate that there is strong evidence supporting a relation between EF difficulties (particularly response inhibition and information updating) and alcohol use, with additional evidence of a significant interaction between EF and implicit associations on alcohol use. In contrast, research supporting a link between set shifting abilities and later alcohol use is scarce. Additionally, this review found evidence of alcohol acutely affecting many EF processes (particularly response inhibition). Overall, there is a need to replicate these findings with commonly used EF tasks (versus developing numerous tasks within individual laboratories) to better advance our understanding of the relation between EF and alcohol use.

An intervention to decrease heavy episodic drinking in college students: the effect of executive function training

OBJECTIVE

To develop and test a planning-ability, executive function (EF) intervention to reduce heavy episodic drinking (HED).

PARTICIPANTS

Fifty-five heavy-drinking, first-year college students, recruited from May to October 2012.

METHODS

Participants were randomly allocated to an experimental or active control group and then completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption and demographic questions. Over 1 week, the experimental group completed 4 progressively harder planning tasks, whereas the control group completed 4 easier, consistent-difficulty planning tasks. Participants then recorded their daily alcohol consumption for 2 weeks.

RESULTS

As hypothesized, both mean and maximum per-occasion alcohol consumption was significantly reduced in the experimental group compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in frequency of HED.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide initial support for the use of a planning-ability intervention in decreasing per-occasion alcohol consumption. Future researchers can examine the mechanism of effect, the long-term efficacy, and the specific EFs involved in other aspects of alcohol consumption.

Working Memory Moderates the Association Between Smoking Urge and Smoking Lapse Behavior After Alcohol Administration in a Laboratory Analogue Task

INTRODUCTION

Lapses after smoking cessation often occur in the context of alcohol use, possibly because alcohol increases urge to smoke. Poor working memory, or alcohol-induced decrements in working memory, may influence this relationship by making it more difficult for an individual to resist smoking in the face of smoking urges.

METHODS

Participants (n = 41) completed measures of working memory and urge to smoke before and after alcohol administration (placebo, 0.4 g/kg, and 0.8 g/kg, within subjects) and then participated in a laboratory analogue task in which smoking abstinence was monetarily incentivized.

RESULTS

Working memory moderated the relationship between smoking urge and latency to smoke: for those with relatively poorer working memory, urge to smoke was more strongly and negatively associated with latency to smoke (i.e., higher urges were associated with shorter latency).

CONCLUSIONS

Those with weak working memory may need additional forms of treatment to help them withstand smoking urges.

Translational clinical neuroscience perspectives on the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms underlying alcohol-related aggression

Alcohol-related violence, a longstanding, serious, and pervasive social problem, has provided researchers from diverse disciplines with a model to study individual differences in aggressive and violent behavior. Of course, not all alcohol consumers will become aggressive after drinking and similarly, not all individuals with alcohol use disorders will exhibit such untoward behavior. Rather, the relationship is best conceptualized as complex and indirect and is influenced by a constellation of social, cognitive, and biological factors that differ greatly from one person to the next. Animal experiments and human studies have elucidated how these mechanisms and processes explain (i.e., mediate) the relation between acute and chronic alcohol consumption and aggressive behavior. Further, the rich body of literature on alcohol-related aggression has allowed for identification of several potential high-yield targets for clinical intervention, e.g., cognitive training for executive dysfunction; psychopharmacology targeting affect and threat perception, which may also generalize to other psychiatric conditions characterized by aggressive behavior. Here we aim to integrate pertinent findings, derived from different methodological approaches and theoretical models, which explain heterogeneity in aggressive responses to alcohol. A translational platform is provided, highlighting common factors linking alcohol and aggression that warrant further, interdisciplinary study in order to reduce the devastating social impact of this phenomenon.

Alcohol and Relatively Pure Cannabis Use, but Not Schizotypy, are Associated with Cognitive Attenuations

Elevated schizotypy relates to similar cognitive attenuations as seen in psychosis and cannabis/polydrug use. Also, in schizotypal populations cannabis and polydrug (including licit drug) use are enhanced. These cognitive attenuations may therefore either be a behavioral marker of psychotic (-like) symptoms or the consequence of enhanced drug use in schizotypal populations. To elucidate this, we investigated the link between cognitive attenuation and cannabis use in largely pure cannabis users (35) and non-using controls (48), accounting for the potential additional influence of both schizotypy and licit drug use (alcohol, nicotine). Cognitive attenuations commonly seen in psychosis were associated with cannabis and alcohol use, but not schizotypy. Future studies should therefore consider (i) non-excessive licit substance use (e.g., alcohol) in studies investigating the effect of cannabis use on cognition and (ii) both enhanced illicit and licit substance use in studies investigating cognition in schizotypal populations.

Acute and chronic effects of alcohol on trail making test performance among underage drinkers in a field setting

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol's effects on executive functioning are well documented. Research in this area has provided much information on both the acute and chronic effects of alcohol on processes such as working memory and mental flexibility. However, most research on the acute effects of alcohol is conducted with individuals older than 21 years of age. Using field recruitment methods can provide unique empirical data on the acute effects of alcohol on an underage population.

METHOD

The current study examined the independent effects of acute alcohol intoxication (measured by breath alcohol content) and chronic alcohol use (measured by years drinking) on a test of visuomotor performance and mental flexibility (Trail Making Test) among 91 drinkers ages 18-20 years recruited from a field setting.

RESULTS

Results show that breath alcohol predicts performance on Trails B, but not on Trails A, and that years drinking, above and beyond acute intoxication, predicts poorer performance on both Trails A and B.

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that, independent of the acute effects of alcohol, chronic alcohol consumption has deleterious effects on executive functioning processes among underage drinkers. Our discussion focuses on the importance of these data in describing the effect of alcohol on adolescents and the potential for engaging in risky behavior while intoxicated.

Gender, history of alcohol use and number of drinks consumed predict craving among drinkers in a field setting

To the extent that craving serves to compel excessive drinking, it would be important to predict the intensity of an individual's craving over the course of a drinking episode. Previous research indicates that regular alcohol use (measured by the AUDIT) and the number of drinks individuals have already consumed that evening independently predict craving to drink (Schoenmakers & Wiers, 2010). The current study aims to replicate those findings by testing whether these same variables predict craving to drink in a sample of 1320 bar patrons in a naturalistic setting. In addition, we extend those findings by testing whether regular alcohol use and self-reported number of drinks consumed interact to predict craving, and whether gender independently predicts craving or interacts with other variables to predict craving. Results indicate that for men, AUDIT score alone predicted craving, whereas for women, AUDIT score and number of drinks consumed interacted to predict craving, with craving highest among women with either high AUDIT scores or relatively high consumption levels. Our findings have implications for targeted intervention and prevention efforts, as women who have a history of harmful alcohol use and consume several drinks in an evening might be at the greatest risk for continued alcohol consumption.

Are we drunk yet? Motor versus cognitive cues of subjective intoxication

BACKGROUND

Perception of alcohol intoxication presumably plays an important role in guiding behavior during a current drinking episode. Yet, there has been surprisingly little investigation of what aspects associated with intoxication are used by individuals to attribute their level of intoxication.

METHODS

Building on recent laboratory-based findings, this study employed a complex field-based design to explore the relative contributions of motor performance versus cognitive performance-specifically executive control-on self-attributions of intoxication. Individuals recruited outside of bars (N = 280; mean age = 22; range: 18 to 32) completed a structured interview, self-report questionnaire, and neuropsychological testing battery, and provided a breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) sample.

RESULTS

Results of a multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that current level of subjective intoxication was associated with current alcohol-related stimulant effects, current sedative effects, and current BrAC. After controlling for the unique variance accounted for by these factors, subjective intoxication was better predicted by simple motor speed, as indexed by performance on the Finger Tapping Test, than by executive control, as indexed by performance on the Trail Making Test.

CONCLUSIONS

These results-generated from data collected in a naturally occurring setting-support previous findings from a more traditional laboratory-based investigation, thus illustrating the iterative process of linking field methodology and controlled laboratory experimentation.

Alcohol affects neuronal substrates of response inhibition but not of perceptual processing of stimuli signalling a stop response

Alcohol impairs inhibitory control, including the ability to terminate an initiated action. While there is increasing knowledge about neural mechanisms involved in response inhibition, the level at which alcohol impairs such mechanisms remains poorly understood. Thirty-nine healthy social drinkers received either 0.4g/kg or 0.8g/kg of alcohol, or placebo, and performed two variants of a Visual Stop-signal task during acquisition of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. The two task variants differed only in their instructions: in the classic variant (VSST), participants inhibited their response to a “Go-stimulus” when it was followed by a “Stop-stimulus”. In the control variant (VSST_C), participants responded to the “Go-stimulus” even if it was followed by a “Stop-stimulus”. Comparison of successful Stop-trials (Sstop)>Go, and unsuccessful Stop-trials (Ustop)>Sstop between the three beverage groups enabled the identification of alcohol effects on functional neural circuits supporting inhibitory behaviour and error processing. Alcohol impaired inhibitory control as measured by the Stop-signal reaction time, but did not affect other aspects of VSST performance, nor performance on the VSST_C. The low alcohol dose evoked changes in neural activity within prefrontal, temporal, occipital and motor cortices. The high alcohol dose evoked changes in activity in areas affected by the low dose but importantly induced changes in activity within subcortical centres including the globus pallidus and thalamus. Alcohol did not affect neural correlates of perceptual processing of infrequent cues, as revealed by conjunction analyses of VSST and VSST_C tasks. Alcohol ingestion compromises the inhibitory control of action by modulating cortical regions supporting attentional, sensorimotor and action-planning processes. At higher doses the impact of alcohol also extends to affect subcortical nodes of fronto-basal ganglia- thalamo-cortical motor circuits. In contrast, alcohol appears to have little impact on the early visual processing of infrequent perceptual cues. These observations clarify clinically-important effects of alcohol on behaviour.

The effects of dehydration, moderate alcohol consumption, and rehydration on cognitive functions

This study investigated the impact of mild-moderate dehydration on alcohol-induced deteriorations in cognitive functions. Sixteen healthy males participated in a single-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design study involving 4 experimental trials (separated by ≥7 d). In each trial, participants were dehydrated by 2.5% body mass through exercise. After 1 h recovery in a thermo-neutral environment (22 ± 2 °C, 60-70% relative humidity) 4 tasks from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) were administered to the participants (test 1). In two of the trials, participants were provided with water equivalent to either 50% or 150% body mass loss and given salt (NaCl) capsules (50 mmol/L). A set volume of alcohol or placebo was then consumed in each trial, incorporating the conditions: dehydration-placebo (DP), dehydration-alcohol (DA), partial rehydration-alcohol (PA), and full rehydration-alcohol (FA). The same 4 CANTAB tasks were then re-administered (test 2). Subjective ratings of mood and estimates of alcohol intoxication and driving impairment were also recorded in each trial. Alcohol consumption caused deterioration on 3 of the 4 CANTAB measures (viz., choice reaction time, executive function and response inhibition). This reduction in performance was exacerbated when participants were dehydrated compared to trials where full rehydration occurred. Subjective ratings of impairment and intoxication were not significantly different between any of the trials where alcohol was consumed; however ratings for alcohol trials were significantly higher than in the placebo trial. These findings suggest that rehydration after exercise that causes fluid loss can attenuate alcohol-related deterioration of cognitive functions. This may pose implications for post match fluid replacement if a moderate amount of alcohol is also consumed.

Impulsivity, risky behaviors and accidents in alcohol-dependent patients

Impulsivity and alcohol drinking are both considered as important predictors of unintentional as well as intentional injuries. However, relationships of impulsivity with risky behaviors and a history of accidents have not been investigated in alcohol dependence. The aim of this study was to analyze relationships between the frequency of risky behaviors and level of behavioral as well as cognitive impulsivity in alcohol-dependent patients. By means of Barratt's Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and stop-signal task, the levels of cognitive and behavioral impulsivity among 304 alcohol-dependent patients were measured. Also, patients were asked to answer questions from the Short Inventory of Problems applying to risky behaviors and accidents after alcohol drinking. In addition participants completed a questionnaire to assess frequency of other behaviors from the analyzed spectrum (use of other drugs, driving or aggressive behavior after alcohol drinking). The statistical analysis revealed a significant association between impulsivity and frequency of risky behaviors in alcohol-dependent patients. Individuals with higher scores in BIS behaved more frequently in a risky way and had significantly more accidents after alcohol drinking. The association with risky behaviors was strongest for non-planning and attentional impulsivity subscales, whereas frequency of accidents was particularly associated with motor impulsivity. A multivariate analysis revealed that impulsivity was the most important predictor of risky behaviors, but did not significantly predict a history of accidents. Our study confirms that impulsivity is an important correlate of risky behaviors in alcohol-dependent individuals, along with global psychopathology and severity of alcohol dependence.

A comparison of the anticipated and pharmacological effects of alcohol on cognitive bias, executive function, craving and ad-lib drinking

Acute alcohol administration alters automatic processing of alcohol-related cues, impairs executive functions and increases alcohol seeking. Few studies have investigated the effects of expecting to receive alcohol on these measures. Thirty-one social drinkers completed three experimental sessions receiving either 0.65 g/kg alcohol, a placebo and a control beverage (which they knew was not alcoholic) before reporting craving and completing a test battery including a measure of automatic alcohol-approach tendencies (stimulus response compatibility task), a measure of executive function (Controlled Oral Word Association Task (COWAT)) and a taste test assessing ad-lib drinking. Results indicated that alcohol administration impaired performance on the COWAT and increased ad-lib drinking; however, there were no significant differences on these measures after administration of placebo versus control beverages. Craving was increased after alcohol and (to a lesser extent) after placebo. Automatic alcohol-approach tendencies were pronounced after both alcohol and placebo compared to the control beverage, with no difference between alcohol and placebo. Results suggest craving is sensitive to the anticipated and pharmacological effects of alcohol, alcohol-approach tendencies are particularly sensitive to the anticipated effects of alcohol, and measures of executive function and ad-lib drinking are affected by the pharmacological, but not the anticipated, effects of alcohol.

Dose-related effects of alcohol on cognitive functioning

We assessed the suitability of six applied tests of cognitive functioning to provide a single marker for dose-related alcohol intoxication. Numerous studies have demonstrated that alcohol has a deleterious effect on specific areas of cognitive processing but few have compared the effects of alcohol across a wide range of different cognitive processes. Adult participants (N = 56, 32 males, 24 females aged 18–45 years) were randomized to control or alcohol treatments within a mixed design experiment involving multiple-dosages at approximately one hour intervals (attained mean blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.00, 0.048, 0.082 and 0.10%), employing a battery of six psychometric tests; the Useful Field of View test (UFOV; processing speed together with directed attention); the Self-Ordered Pointing Task (SOPT; working memory); Inspection Time (IT; speed of processing independent from motor responding); the Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP; strategic optimization); the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART; vigilance, response inhibition and psychomotor function); and the Trail-Making Test (TMT; cognitive flexibility and psychomotor function). Results demonstrated that impairment is not uniform across different domains of cognitive processing and that both the size of the alcohol effect and the magnitude of effect change across different dose levels are quantitatively different for different cognitive processes. Only IT met the criteria for a marker for wide-spread application: reliable dose-related decline in a basic process as a function of rising BAC level and easy to use non-invasive task properties.

The role of heavy episodic drinking and hostile sexism in men's sexual aggression toward female intimate partners

Research indicates that men's heavy episodic drinking is a significant risk factor for their perpetration of sexual aggression toward intimate partners. The aim of this investigation was to examine how hostile sexism (i.e., antipathy toward women) and benevolent sexism (i.e., subjectively positive, yet patriarchal, views of women) influence the relation between men's heavy episodic drinking and their perpetration of sexual aggression toward intimate partners.

METHOD

Participants were 205 heterosexual drinking men who completed self-report measures of quantity of alcohol consumption during the past 12 months, hostile sexism, and sexual aggression toward an intimate partner during the past 12 months.

RESULTS

Men's heavy episodic drinking was positively associated with sexual aggression perpetration toward intimate partners amongst men who endorsed high, but not low, levels of hostile sexism. No such interactive effect emerged for men's endorsement of benevolent sexism.

CONCLUSIONS

These results have important implications for understanding cumulative risk factors for the perpetration of sexual aggression toward intimates.

Comparing the detection of transdermal and breath alcohol concentrations during periods of alcohol consumption ranging from moderate drinking to binge drinking

Binge drinking is a public health concern due to its association with negative health outcomes as well as increased legal and social consequences. Previous studies have frequently used self-reported alcohol consumption to classify binge drinking episodes; however, these measures are often limited in both detail and accuracy. Some researchers have begun using additional measures such as blood (BAC) and breath (BrAC) alcohol concentrations to supplement self-report data. Transdermal alcohol testing, or the detection of alcohol expiration through the skin, offers advantages over BAC and BrAC measures by allowing for continuous and noninvasive monitoring of an individual's drinking behavior in real time. Despite these advantages, this technology has not been widely used or studied outside of forensic applications. The present research compares transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) and BrAC readings during the consumption of alcohol ranging from moderate drinking to binge drinking in 22 adult regular drinkers in order to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of the TAC monitors. We observed that BrAC and TAC measures were broadly consistent. Additionally, we were able to develop an equation that could predict BrAC results using TAC data, indicating TAC data would be an appropriate substitute in research and clinical contexts where BrAC readings are typically used. Finally, we were able to determine a cutoff point for peak TAC data that could reliably predict whether a participant had engaged in moderate or more-than-moderate drinking, suggesting TAC monitors could be used in settings where moderate or reduced drinking is the goal.

On the measurement of the effects of alcohol and illicit substances on inhibition of return

RATIONALE

Inhibition of return (IOR) refers to the delayed orienting of attention to previously inspected locations in favour of novel locations. Given its implications for visual attention and search, researchers have begun to investigate whether IOR may be impaired by the use of alcohol or illicit substances (e.g. d-amphetamine).

OBJECTIVES

The present paper reviews the existing literature exploring the impact of alcohol and other drugs on IOR through the use of the model spatial cueing task developed by Posner.

RESULTS

Studies were located that investigated IOR paradigm with respect to either (a) acute effects of alcohol or other psychoactive substances and (b) hallucinogenic drug states as models for psychosis. Findings suggest that alcohol, d-amphetamine and some hallucinogens may alter the timecourse of IOR. This review also yields a critical qualitative analysis of the methodology of studies in this field of research and the implications of particular methodological features for interpreting previous findings.

CONCLUSIONS

The importance of using multiple stimulus onset asynchronies, employing a cue-back to centre paradigm and distinguishing between acute and chronic substance use are emphasized. Furthermore, questions are raised as to whether findings suggest an impact of psychoactive substances on the subcortical mechanisms that play a critical role in the generation of IOR or are an indirect effect resulting from impairment of the cortical mechanisms responsible for voluntary disengagement of attention. Directions for future research and particular methodological approaches are highlighted.

Neuropsychological profiling of impulsivity and compulsivity in cocaine dependent individuals

RATIONALE

Research on the relative impact of trait impulsivity vs. drug exposure on neuropsychological probes of response inhibition vs. response perseveration has been posited as a valid pathway to explore the transition between impulsivity and compulsivity on psychostimulant dependence.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study are to examine performance differences between cocaine-dependent individuals (CDI) and healthy comparison individuals (HCI) on neuropsychological probes of inhibition and perseveration and to examine the predictive impact of trait impulsivity-a proxy of premorbid vulnerability, and severity of cocaine use-a proxy of drug exposure, on CDI's performance.

METHODS

Forty-two CDI and 65 HCI were assessed using the UPPS-P Scale (trait impulsivity), the Stroop and go/no-go (inhibition) and revised-strategy application and probabilistic reversal tests (perseveration).

RESULTS

CDI, compared to HCI, have elevated scores on trait impulsivity and perform significantly poorer on inhibition and perseveration, with specific detrimental effects of duration of cocaine use on perseveration.

CONCLUSIONS

CDI have both inhibition and perseveration deficits; both patterns were broadly indicative of orbitofrontal dysfunction in the context of reinforcement learning. Impulsive personality and cocaine exposure jointly contribute to deficits in response perseveration or compulsivity.

Cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol-related aggression

Alcohol-related violence is a serious and common social problem. Moreover, violent behaviour is much more common in alcohol-dependent individuals. Animal experiments and human studies have provided insights into the acute effect of alcohol on aggressive behaviour and into common factors underlying acute and chronic alcohol intake and aggression. These studies have shown that environmental factors, such as early-life stress, interact with genetic variations in serotonin-related genes that affect serotonergic and GABAergic neurotransmission. This leads to increased amygdala activity and impaired prefrontal function that, together, predispose to both increased alcohol intake and impulsive aggression. In addition, acute and chronic alcohol intake can further impair executive control and thereby facilitate aggressive behaviour.