Prospective examination of synthetic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine inhalation: effects on salivary IL-6, cortisol levels, affect, and non-judgment

RATIONALE

5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine is a psychotropic substance found in various plant and animal species and is synthetically produced. 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine is used in naturalistic settings for spiritual exploration, recreation, or to address negative affect and mood problems. However, scientific knowledge on the effects of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine in humans is scarce.

OBJECTIVES

The first objective was to assess the effects of inhalation of vaporized synthetic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine on neuroendocrine markers. The second objective was to assess effects of the substance on affect and mindfulness. In addition, we assessed whether ratings of subjective measures were associated with changes in stress biomarkers (i.e., cortisol) and immune response (i.e., IL-6, CRP, IL-1β), as well as the acute psychedelic experience.

METHODS

Assessments (baseline, immediately post-session, and 7-day follow-up) were made in 11 participants. Salivary samples were collected at baseline and post-session and analyzed by high-sensitivity enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine significantly increased cortisol levels and decreased IL-6 concentrations in saliva immediately post-session. These changes were not correlated to ratings of mental health or the psychedelic experience. Relative to baseline, ratings of non-judgment significantly increased, and ratings of depression decreased immediately post-session and at follow-up. Ratings of anxiety and stress decreased from baseline to 7-day follow-up. Participant ratings of the psychedelic experience correlated negatively with ratings of affect and positively with ratings of non-judgment.

CONCLUSION

Inhalation of vaporized synthetic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine produced significant changes in inflammatory markers, improved affect, and non-judgment in volunteers. Future research should examine the effect of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamineamine with healthy volunteers in a controlled laboratory setting.

Oxytocin amplifies the influence of good intentions on social judgments

Studies have shown that the evolutionarily conserved neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) promotes various prosocial behaviors, yet there are few studies of the effect of OT on social judgments, especially on judgments when the actor's intention and the final outcome are incongruent. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment, participants were asked to play the role of the recipient in a dictator game and to make social judgments about the dictator after intranasal OT administration. To isolate the outcome and the intention of the dictator's allocation, we developed a novel social judgment task in which recipients were told that 50% of the dictators' proposals would be reversed. The results showed that the effect of OT on social judgment was modulated by intention: OT increased goodness ratings only towards dictators with hyperfair intention. Our findings support the affiliative-motivation theory which states that OT enhances the affiliative motivation and recognition of positive-valence social stimuli.

Pharmacological manipulations of judgement bias: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Validated measures of animal affect are crucial to research spanning numerous disciplines. Judgement bias, which assesses decision-making under ambiguity, is a promising measure of animal affect. One way of validating this measure is to administer drugs with affect-altering properties in humans to non-human animals and determine whether the predicted judgement biases are observed. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using data from 20 published research articles that use this approach, from which 557 effect sizes were extracted. Pharmacological manipulations overall altered judgement bias at the probe cues as predicted. However, there were several moderating factors including the neurobiological target of the drug, whether the drug induced a relatively positive or negative affective state in humans, dosage, and the presented cue. This may partially reflect interference from adverse effects of the drug which should be considered when interpreting results. Thus, the overall pattern of change in animal judgement bias appears to reflect the affect-altering properties of drugs in humans, and hence may be a valuable measure of animal affective valence.

Air Pollution Predicts Harsh Moral Judgment

The present research recruited participants from China, which is suffering from serious air pollution, and examined whether air pollution would be associated with moral judgment and immoral behavioral intention. Study 1 (n = 145) used the objective Air Quality Index to indicate the level of air pollution and found that it predicted harsh judgment on others’ moral violations but did not predict judgment on others’ non-moral negative behaviors or their own immoral behavioral intentions. Study 2 (n = 90) asked participants either to recall a past experience of being exposed to air pollution or to recall a neutral experience and consistently found that air pollution only influenced judgment on moral violations. The findings also ruled out the feeling of threat or the trust of government as possible mediators in the relationship between air pollution and harsh moral judgment.

How perceived substance characteristics affect ethical judgement towards cognitive enhancement

Some individuals seek to enhance their cognitive capabilities through the use of pharmacology. Such behavior entails potential health risks and raises ethical concerns. The aim of this study was to examine whether a precursor of behavior, ethical judgement towards the use of existing biological cognitive enhancers (e.g., coffee, legal and illegal drugs), is shaped by the perceived characteristics of these cognitive enhancers. Students and employees completed an online questionnaire which measured perceived characteristics of 15 substances presented as potential cognitive enhancers and a measure of ethical judgement towards these cognitive enhancers. Results of mixed model regression analyzes show that ethical judgement is more favourable when cognitive enhancers are perceived as being legal, familiar, efficient, and safe for users’ health, supporting all hypotheses. Results further show that 36% of variance (in the null model) lies at the level of cognitive enhancers and 21% at the level of participants. In conclusion, cognitive enhancers vary widely in terms of ethical judgement, which is explained by the perception of the mentioned characteristics. Implications regarding prevention and policy-making are discussed.

The Effect of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Methylphenidate Treatment on the Adult Auditory Temporal Order Judgment Threshold

PURPOSE

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition notes that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosed in childhood will persist into adulthood among at least some individuals. There is a paucity of evidence, however, regarding whether other difficulties that often accompany childhood ADHD will also continue into adulthood, specifically auditory processing deficits. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of ADHD and the stimulant medication methylphenidate on auditory perception performance among adults.

METHOD

A total of 33 adults diagnosed with ADHD according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria (ADHD group) and 48 adults without ADHD (non-ADHD group) performed an auditory temporal order judgment task. Participants with ADHD performed the task twice: with and without taking methylphenidate (Ritalin), in random order.

RESULTS

Temporal order judgment thresholds of the ADHD group were significantly higher than those of the non-ADHD group. Methylphenidate significantly decreased temporal order judgment thresholds within the ADHD group, making their performance similar to the non-ADHD participants.

CONCLUSIONS

Auditory processing difficulties of those diagnosed with ADHD seem to persist into adulthood. Similar to findings with children, methylphenidate treatment improves performance on tasks requiring this ability among adults. Therefore, given the association between auditory temporal processing and linguistic skills, the beneficial effect of methylphenidate on adults' academic achievement may be accomplished by positively affecting auditory temporal processing. Further studies in this line of research are needed.

Ayahuasca enhances creative divergent thinking while decreasing conventional convergent thinking

INTRODUCTION

Ayahuasca is a South American psychotropic plant tea traditionally used in Amazonian shamanism. The tea contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), plus β-carboline alkaloids with monoamine oxidase-inhibiting properties. Increasing evidence from anecdotal reports and open-label studies indicates that ayahuasca may have therapeutic effects in treatment of substance use disorders and depression. A recent study on the psychological effects of ayahuasca found that the tea reduces judgmental processing and inner reactivity, classic goals of mindfulness psychotherapy. Another psychological facet that could potentially be targeted by ayahuasca is creative divergent thinking. This mode of thinking can enhance and strengthen psychological flexibility by allowing individuals to generate new and effective cognitive, emotional, and behavioral strategies. The present study aimed to assess the potential effects of ayahuasca on creative thinking.

METHODS

We visited two spiritual ayahuasca workshops and invited participants to conduct creativity tests before and during the acute effects of ayahuasca. In total, 26 participants consented. Creativity tests included the "pattern/line meanings test" (PLMT) and the "picture concept test" (PCT), both assessing divergent thinking and the latter also assessing convergent thinking.

RESULTS

While no significant effects were found for the PLMT, ayahuasca intake significantly modified divergent and convergent thinking as measured by the PCT. While convergent thinking decreased after intake, divergent thinking increased.

CONCLUSIONS

The present data indicate that ayahuasca enhances creative divergent thinking. They suggest that ayahuasca increases psychological flexibility, which may facilitate psychotherapeutic interventions and support clinical trial initiatives.

The effects of acute pharmacological stimulation of the 5-HT, NA and DA systems on the cognitive judgement bias of rats in the ambiguous-cue interpretation paradigm

In the present study, we investigated the effects of acute pharmacological stimulation of the serotonergic (5-HT), noradrenergic (NA) and dopaminergic (DA) systems on the valence of cognitive judgement bias of rats in the ambiguous-cue interpretation (ACI) paradigm. To accomplish this goal, after initial behavioural training, different groups of rats received single injections of citalopram, desipramine or d-amphetamine and were subsequently tested with the ACI paradigm. Each drug was administered in 3 doses using a fully randomised Latin square design. Citalopram at the dose of 1mg/kg significantly biased animals towards positive interpretation of the ambiguous cue, while at higher doses (5 and 10mg/kg), the animals interpreted the ambiguous cue more negatively. Desipramine at all 3 tested doses (1, 2 and 5mg/kg) significantly biased animals towards negative interpretation of the ambiguous cue, while d-amphetamine at the dose of 1mg/kg induced positive bias, having no effects at lower doses (0.1 and 0.5mg/kg). Our results indicate that cognitive bias in rats can be influenced by acute pharmacological intervention.

Serotoninergic effects on judgments and social learning of trustworthiness

RATIONALE

Certain disorders, such as depression and anxiety, to which serotonin dysfunction is historically associated, are also associated with lower assessments of other people's trustworthiness. Serotonergic changes are known to alter cognitive responses to threatening stimuli. This effect may manifest socially as reduced apparent trustworthiness of others. Trustworthiness judgments can emerge from either direct observation or references provided by third parties.

OBJECTIVE

We assessed whether explicit judgments of trustworthiness and social influences on those judgments are altered by changes within serotonergic systems.

METHODS

We implemented a double-blind between-subject design where 20 healthy female volunteers received a single dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram (2 × 20 mg), while 20 control subjects (matched on age, intelligence, and years of education) received a placebo. Subjects performed a face-rating task assessing how trustworthy they found 153 unfamiliar others (targets). After each rating, the subjects were told how other subjects, on average, rated the same target. The subjects then performed 30 min of distractor tasks before, unexpectedly, being asked to rate all 153 faces again, in a random order.

RESULTS

Compared to subjects receiving a placebo, subjects receiving citalopram rated targets as less trustworthy. They also conformed more to opinions of others, when others rated targets to be even less trustworthy than subjects had initially indicated. The two effects were independent of negative effects of citalopram on subjective state.

CONCLUSIONS

This is evidence that serotonin systems can mediate explicit assessment and social learning of the trustworthiness of others.

The behavioral economics of drunk driving

This study investigates whether drinker-drivers attributes are associated with imperfect rationality or irrationality. Using data from eight U.S. cities, we determine whether drinker-drivers differ from other drinkers in cognitive ability, ignorance of driving while intoxicated (DWI) laws, have higher rates of time preference, are time inconsistent, and lack self-control on other measures. We find that drinker-drivers are relatively knowledgeable about DWI laws and do not differ on two of three study measures of cognitive ability from other drinkers. Drinker-drivers are less prone to plan events involving drinking, e.g., selecting a designated driver in advance of drinking, and are more impulsive. Furthermore, we find evidence in support of hyperbolic discounting. In particular, relative to non-drinker-drivers, the difference between short- and long-term discount rates is much higher for drinker-drivers than for other drinkers. Implications of our findings for public policy, including incapacitation, treatment, and educational interventions, are discussed.

Oxytocin enhances brain function in children with autism

Following intranasal administration of oxytocin (OT), we measured, via functional MRI, changes in brain activity during judgments of socially (Eyes) and nonsocially (Vehicles) meaningful pictures in 17 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). OT increased activity in the striatum, the middle frontal gyrus, the medial prefrontal cortex, the right orbitofrontal cortex, and the left superior temporal sulcus. In the striatum, nucleus accumbens, left posterior superior temporal sulcus, and left premotor cortex, OT increased activity during social judgments and decreased activity during nonsocial judgments. Changes in salivary OT concentrations from baseline to 30 min postadministration were positively associated with increased activity in the right amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex during social vs. nonsocial judgments. OT may thus selectively have an impact on salience and hedonic evaluations of socially meaningful stimuli in children with ASD, and thereby facilitate social attunement. These findings further the development of a neurophysiological systems-level understanding of mechanisms by which OT may enhance social functioning in children with ASD.

Oxytocin effects on neural correlates of self-referential processing

Oxytocin (OT) influences how humans process information about others. Whether OT affects the processing of information about oneself remains unknown. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled within-subject design, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from adults during trait judgments about oneself and a celebrity and during judgments on word valence, after intranasal OT or placebo administration. We found that OT vs. placebo treatment reduced the differential amplitudes of a fronto-central positivity at 220-280 ms (P2) during self- vs. valence-judgments. OT vs. placebo treatment tended to reduce the differential amplitude of a late positive potential at 520-1000 ms (LPP) during self-judgments but to increase the differential LPP amplitude during other-judgments. OT effects on the differential P2 and LPP amplitudes to self- vs. celebrity-judgments were positively correlated with a measure of interdependence of self-construals. Thus OT modulates the neural correlates of self-referential processing and this effect varies as a function of interdependence.

Testosterone administration modulates moral judgments depending on second-to-fourth digit ratio

Moral judgment involves the interplay of emotions and social cognitions. The male sex-hormone testosterone might play a role in moral reasoning as males are more utilitarian than females in their moral decisions, and high salivary testosterone levels also are associated with utilitarian moral decisions. However, there is no direct evidence for a role of testosterone in moral reasoning. Recent testosterone administration studies show effects on cognitive empathy and social cooperation, which depend on right-hand's second-to-fourth (2D:4D) digit ratio, a proxy for prenatal sex-hormone (testosterone-versus-estradiol) priming. Here, in a placebo-controlled within-subjects design using 20 young females we show that 2D:4D predicts 44% of the variance in the effects of testosterone administration on moral judgment. Subjects who show an increase in utilitarian judgments following testosterone administration have significantly higher than average 2D:4D (relatively high prenatal estradiol priming), while subjects showing more deontological judgments following testosterone administration have near-significantly lower 2D:4D (relatively high prenatal testosterone priming). We argue that prenatally-organized differences in aromatase, i.e. conversion from testosterone to estradiol in the brain, might underlie these effects. Our findings suggest that early neurodevelopmental effects of sex steroids play a crucial role in the activational effects of hormones on moral reasoning later in life.

Aesthetic and incentive salience of cute infant faces: studies of observer sex, oral contraception and menstrual cycle

Infant cuteness can influence adult-infant interaction and has been shown to activate reward centres in the brain. In a previous study, we found men and women to be differentially sensitive to small differences in infant facial cuteness, with reproductive hormone status as the potential underlying cause. It is unclear, however, whether reproductive hormone status impacts on the aesthetic and incentive salience of infant faces.

To address this question, we conducted two interlinked studies. We used static images of the same smiling and neutral-looking infant faces in both a rating task, in which participants had to rate the cuteness of infant faces (aesthetic salience - ‘liking’), and a key-press task, in which participants could prolong or shorten viewing time of infant faces by rapid alternating key-presses (incentive salience - ‘wanting’).

In a first study, we compared the performance of men, women who are taking oral contraceptives, and regularly cycling women. In this study, we found a significant correlation between cuteness ratings within and between groups, which implies that participants had the same concept of cuteness. Cuteness ratings and effort to look at faces was linked regardless of sex and reproductive hormone status, in that cute faces were looked at for longer than less cute faces. A happy facial expression contributed only marginally to the incentive salience of the face.

To explore the potential impact of reproductive hormone status in more detail, we followed a subset of regularly cycling women during the menstrual, follicular and luteal phases of their cycle. The aesthetic and incentive salience of infant faces did not change across the menstrual cycle.

Our findings suggest that reproductive hormone status does not modulate the aesthetic and incentive value of infant faces.

The acute effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and methamphetamine on driving: a simulator study

OBJECTIVES

Illicit drugs such as MDMA and methamphetamine are commonly abused drugs that have also been observed to be prevalent in drivers injured in road accidents. Their exact effect on driving and driving behavior has yet to be thoroughly investigated.

METHODS

Sixty-one abstinent recreational users of illicit drugs comprised the participant sample, with 33 females and 28 males, mean age 25.45 years. The three testing sessions involved oral consumption of 100 mg MDMA, 0.42 mg/kg methamphetamine, or a matching placebo. The drug administration was counter-balanced, double-blind, and medically supervised. At each session driving performance was assessed 3 h and 24 h post drug administration on a computerized driving simulator.

RESULTS

At peak concentration overall impairment scores for driving (F(2,118)=9.042, p<0.001) and signaling (F(2,118)=4.060, p=0.020) were significantly different for the daytime simulations. Performance in the MDMA condition was worse than both the methamphetamine (p=0.023) and placebo (p<0.001) conditions and the methamphetamine condition was also observed to be worse in comparison to the placebo (p=0.055). For signaling adherence, poorer signaling adherence occurred in both the methamphetamine (p=0.006) and MDMA (p=0.017) conditions in comparison to placebo in the daytime simulations.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study have for the first time illustrated how both MDMA and methamphetamine effect driving performance, and provide support for legislation regarding testing for the presence of illicit drugs in impaired or injured drivers as deterrents for driving under the influence of illicit drugs.

The effect of alcohol administration on human timing: a comparison of prospective timing, retrospective timing and passage of time judgements

Previous research suggests that human timing may be affected by alcohol administration. The current study aimed to expand on previous research by examining the effect of alcohol on prospective timing, retrospective timing and passage of time judgements. A blind between-subjects design was employed in which participants were either administered 0 g of alcohol per kilogramme of body weight (placebo), 0.4 g/kg (low dose) or 0.6g/kg (high dose). Participants completed four types of temporal task; verbal estimation and temporal generalisation, a retrospective timing task and a passage of time judgement task. A high dose of alcohol resulted in overestimations of duration relative to the low dose and placebo group in the verbal estimation task. A high dose of alcohol was also associated with time passing more quickly than normal. Alcohol had no effect on retrospective judgements. The results suggest that a high dose of alcohol increases internal clock speed leading to over-estimations of duration on prospective timing tasks, and the sensation of time passing more quickly than normal. The absence of an effect of alcohol on retrospective timing supports the suggestion that retrospective judgements are not based on the output of an internal clock.

Self-referential processing and the prefrontal cortex over the course of depression: a pilot study

BACKGROUND

Depressed patients exhibit cognitive biases, including maladaptive self-focus. In a previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) activation during self-referential versus semantic processing was unique to patients, as was the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activation. The aim of this pilot study was to examine whether this pattern was stable over the course of depression.

METHODS

Sixteen participants (8 depressed inpatients, 8 healthy controls) viewed personality traits during fMRI and judged whether each trait described them or not ('self' condition), or whether it described a socially desirable trait or not ('general' condition). There were 2 scanning sessions with an interval of at least 6weeks, in which patients received an antidepressant treatment.

RESULTS

After a mean duration of 9 weeks, depressed patients displayed a more balanced activation of the left DLPFC but a greater activation of the dorsal MPFC in 'self' versus 'general' condition remained.

LIMITATIONS

The small sample size and heterogeneous clinical features prevented subgroups analyses between responders and non-responders.

CONCLUSIONS

The change of the left DLPFC activation suggests that antidepressants are associated with a more balanced allocation of cognitive control across self-referential and non-self-referential processes. The apparent lack of effect on the dorsal MPFC activity is consistent with the specific effects of antidepressants versus cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) previously demonstrated in depression. Future studies could examine the relationships between the dorsal MPFC activity in depressed patients and the need to reduce self-focus through CBT to achieve remission and prevent relapse.

When the boss turns pusher: a proposal for employee protections in the age of cosmetic neurology

Neurocognitive enhancement, or cosmetic neurology, offers the prospect of improving the learning, memory and attention skills of healthy individuals well beyond the normal human range. Much has been written about the ethics of such enhancement, but policy-makers in the USA, the UK and Europe have been reluctant to legislate in this rapidly developing field. However, the possibility of discrimination by employers and insurers against individuals who choose not to engage in such enhancement is a serious threat worthy of legislative intervention. While lawmakers should not prevent individuals from freely pursuing neurocognitive enhancement, they should act to ensure that such enhancement is not coerced. This paper offers one model for such legislation, based upon a proposed US law, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, to address precisely this particular pitfall of the impending neuroscience revolution.

Acute alcohol effects on repetition priming and word recognition memory with equivalent memory cues

Acute alcohol intoxication effects on memory were examined using a recollection-based word recognition memory task and a repetition priming task of memory for the same information without explicit reference to the study context. Memory cues were equivalent across tasks; encoding was manipulated by varying the frequency of occurrence (FOC) of words in the study lists. Twenty-two female and male social drinkers (age 21-24 years) completed equivalent versions of the memory tasks in two counterbalanced sessions (alcohol challenge, no-alcohol). Alcohol and the FOC manipulation affected recollection-based memory processing, but not repetition priming. Results supported alcohol's dissociative effects on memory systems.

Patient-perceived satisfactory improvement (PPSI): interpreting meaningful change in pain from the patient's perspective

The assessment of clinically meaningful changes in patient-reported pain has become increasingly important when interpreting results of clinical studies. However, proposed response criteria, such as the minimal clinically important difference, do not correspond with the growing need for information on truly meaningful, individual improvements. The aim of the present study was to investigate satisfactory improvements in pain from the patient's perspective. Data were collected in a 2-week prospective study of 181 arthritis patients treated with a local corticosteroid injection. Baseline and follow-up pain were assessed on 100mm visual analogue scales for pain intensity (VAS-PI). At baseline, patients also marked a hypothetical level on a VAS-PI representing a satisfactory improvement in pain. Patient-perceived satisfactory improvement (PPSI) was constructed using a 5-point categorical rating of change scale at follow-up as the anchor. PPSI was associated with a minimal reduction of 30mm or 55% on the VAS-PI. Since absolute change in pain associated with satisfactory improvement proved highly dependent on baseline pain, percent change scores performed better in classifying improved patients. The 55% threshold for satisfactory improvement was consistent over the course of treatment and reasonably consistent across groups of patients. Our data suggest that PPSI is a clinically relevant and stable concept for interpreting truly meaningful improvements in pain from the individual perspective.

Compensating for alcohol-induced impairment of control: effects on inhibition and activation of behavior

RATIONALE

Studies have shown that expectations of alcohol-induced impairment can produce adaptive responses to alcohol that reduce the degree of behavioral impairment displayed. However, compensatory effects have been variable for cognitive and psychomotor tasks.

OBJECTIVES

Using a model-driven approach to understanding behavioral control, the present study examined compensatory and impairment effects following the expectation and actual administration of alcohol on the ability to inhibit and activate behavior.

METHODS

Social drinkers (N=17) performed a cued go/no-go task that required quick responses to go targets and inhibition of responses to no-go targets under four conditions: no treatment, alcohol expectancy (placebo), 0.45 g/kg alcohol, and 0.65 g/kg alcohol.

RESULTS

Inhibitory and activational aspects of behavioral control were impaired by both active doses of alcohol. Alcohol slowed response activation and increased failures to inhibit responses in a dose-dependent manner. Subjects also displayed a small, but statistically significant, compensatory improvement in inhibitory control in response to the expectation of alcohol. Moreover, individual differences in the compensatory response were related to differences in alcohol impairment. Those who displayed greater compensatory responses to placebo displayed the least impairment in response to alcohol.

CONCLUSIONS

By modeling behavioral control as the net effect of countervailing activational and inhibitory influences, the study suggests that fundamental mechanisms of control might not display uniform compensatory reactions to alcohol-related cues. Greater consideration of how alcohol-related expectancies shape behaviors under the drug should lead to a better understanding of individual differences with respect to risk for alcohol abuse.

Automatic effects of alcohol cues on sexual attraction

AIMS

The present study tested whether suboptimal priming (which may be defined as 'under viewing conditions rendering conscious identification highly improbable') with alcohol-related stimuli would activate existing expectancies about alcohol's effects on sexual desire. It was predicted that alcohol cues, relative to non-alcohol cues, would activate expectancies of alcohol's aphrodisiac properties. We hypothesized that for men, stronger expectancies in this regard would predict an increased tendency to judge women as sexually attractive following the alcohol primes.

DESIGN

Two experimental studies manipulated cue (alcohol versus control) and rating dimension (attractiveness versus intelligence). Self-reported alcohol expectancies of sexual desire were assessed approximately 1 month prior to the study. Study 2 assessed additional expectancy content domains.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Study 1 comprised 82 undergraduate males and study 2 78 undergraduate males. Studies were conducted at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA.

INTERVENTIONS

In both experiments, male participants were suboptimally primed with either alcohol-related or control words. Following this priming, they were presented with a series of photographs of young women and asked to either rate their attractiveness or their intelligence.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

In both studies, a three-way interaction between cue, rating dimension and alcohol expectancies was found. Within the attractiveness rating condition a two-way interaction was found, indicating that in this condition, stronger expectancies that alcohol increases sexual desire predicted higher attractiveness ratings after suboptimal exposure to alcohol primes. No effects emerged in the intelligence rating condition. Discussion centers on implications for sexual risk-taking as well as a range of other non-consumptive behaviors.

Metamemory without the memory: are people aware of midazolam-induced amnesia?

RATIONALE

Midazolam is a benzodiazepine which produces a dense anterograde amnesia, while permitting relatively well-preserved short-term memory, semantic retrieval, and other higher cognitive functions. Given these preserved abilities, we were interested in whether or not participants given midazolam would be aware of this anterograde amnesia.

METHOD

In the present experiment, participants were given midazolam in one testing session and a saline placebo in another. Participants provided judgments-of-learning (JOLs) immediately following study of cue-target pairs. During the test phase of the experiment, confidence levels and feeling-of-knowing (FOK) judgments were collected.

RESULTS

Although cued recall performance was substantially impaired in the midazolam condition, mean JOLs were unaffected, indicating participants had little insight into their impairment during the study phase. Participants were relatively accurate in confidence levels and FOK judgments in the midazolam condition.

CONCLUSION

When studying items under the influence of midazolam, participants are unaware that their memory will be impaired. Implications for clinical practice and pharmacological studies of amnesia are discussed.

Effect of ethanol on judgments of performance

Ethanol impairs cognitive and psychomotor performance, although the precise reasons for this remain unclear. We investigated the effect of ethanol on individuals' judgment of their performance. Eighteen healthy volunteers (19-22 years) received a high dose of ethanol (0.8 g/kg for males and 0.7 g/kg, for females), a medium dose (75% of the high dose) and a placebo in counterbalanced order on three study days. A general knowledge (GK) test was administered on a pen computer 75 min after the drink. An adaptive algorithm adjusted the difficulty of questions so that scores were similar on all three study days. Volunteers then rated how well they believed they had performed the GK task using a visual analogue scale. A battery of other performance tests and mood ratings was also completed both before and after the GK test. These showed the expected effects of ethanol. There were no significant differences in scores on the GK test between treatment sessions. There was a highly significant dose-dependent increase with ethanol on volunteers' ratings of their performance on this test. These findings suggest that ethanol leads to an overoptimistic assessment of ability which may contribute to ethanol's impairment of performance.

Smelling human sex hormone-like compounds affects face gender judgment of men

Although strong cross-sensory interactions between visual, tactile and auditory modalities have already been shown, we know little about how chemosensory information affects processing in other sensory modalities. We studied whether smelling gender-specific odorous sex hormone-like steroids: 5-alpha-androgenst-16-en-3-one (androgen) or oestra-1, 3, 5 (10), 16-tetraen-3-ol (estrogen) can bias face gender discrimination. We found that, as a result of inhalation of androgen, men perceive faces to be more masculine as compared to when they are exposed to estrogen. Our results provide evidence for specific cross-sensory effects of the gender-specific chemosensory cues on the categorization of visual face gender.

Effect of caffeine on prospective and retrospective duration judgements

The effects of caffeine on prospective and retrospective duration judgements were evaluated in a double-blind placebo-controlled experiment. After taking either 200 mg caffeine or a placebo, participants touched a 17-sided polygon for 15 s. Then they verbally estimated the number of angles and the duration. Participants in the prospective group were told in advance they would be making a duration estimate, whereas those in the retrospective group were not told. Caffeine reduced duration estimates in the prospective condition but not in the retrospective condition. The effect of caffeine on very long duration comparisons (the past year compared with a year at one-half and one-quarter of one's age) was also evaluated, but none was found. The findings do not support the hypothesis that caffeine affects duration experience by increasing the internal clock rate as a result of its dopamine D(2) agonist properties. The hypothesis that caffeine produces its effect by enhancing memory was considered and rejected. The most parsimonious explanation is that caffeine increased arousal level, which led to a narrowing of the focus of attention to the most salient task.

Benefits of multidatabase searching: a forensic case study

The research base for topics in forensic psychology is multidisciplinary. This paper highlights the critical importance of conducting multidatabase searches to obtain a comprehensive literature review of forensic topics.

Alcohol intoxication reduces impulsivity in the delay-discounting paradigm

AIMS

To examine the moderating effects of alcohol myopia on cognitive impulsivity in humans using the delay-discounting paradigm.

METHODS

Seventy-six male undergraduate students were randomly assigned to sober, placebo or alcohol conditions. In the delay-discounting task, participants made a series of hypothetical choices between a small, immediate reward and a large, delayed reward. To test the predictions of alcohol myopia theory, participants completed a standard version of the task or one containing cues which impelled the impulsive choice (i.e. preference for the small, immediate reward). Participants also completed a personality measure of impulsivity and the go/no-go task, which assesses motor impulsivity.

RESULTS

Intoxicated participants tended to discount delayed rewards at lower rates than sober participants, and blood alcohol level was inversely correlated with delay discounting. The impelling cues did not moderate the effects of alcohol on delay discounting.

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol intoxication does not always increase cognitive impulsivity and may lead to more cautious decision-making under certain conditions.

Alcohol's effects on sexual perception

OBJECTIVE

This study examines hypotheses about alcohol's effects on sexual judgments based on both alcohol and misperception theories. It was hypothesized that gender, alcohol consumption and alcohol expectancy set would influence perceptions of sexuality.

METHOD

Participants were unacquainted women and men (88 dyads) who interacted for 15 minutes within the context of the balanced placebo design. After the conversation ended, participants answered questions about their behavior and their partners' behavior. Conversations were videotaped and coded by trained raters.

RESULTS

Men perceived their female partner and themselves as behaving more sexually than women perceived their male partner and themselves. When alcohol was consumed, both women and men were perceived as behaving more sexually and in a more disinhibited manner than when alcohol was not consumed. Ratings made by members of white and black dyads were largely comparable. Trained observers coded participants' use of active attention and dating availability cues. Both types of cues interacted with alcohol consumption such that intoxicated participants exaggerated the meaning of strong (dating availability) cues and ignored the meaning of ambiguous (active attention) cues when making sexual judgments.

CONCLUSIONS

Supporting past research on gender differences in perceptions of sexuality, men were more sexually attracted to their opposite-sex partner than women were. Both women's and men's sexual judgments were influenced by alcohol consumption but not by alcohol expectancy set. Intoxicated participants' responses to their partners' behavioral cues supported cognitive impairment models of alcohol's effects. The implications of these findings for theories about alcohol's effects on sexuality and for prevention programming are discussed.

Examination of judgments of drunkenness, binge drinking, and drunk-driving tendencies in teens with and without a family history of alcohol abuse

BACKGROUND

The present study examined judgment processes of individuals with and without a family history of alcohol abuse. Despite the alarming statistics involving alcohol-related consequences in this population, very little is known about what judgment processes they use or how beneficial these processes are at preventing intoxication and alcohol-related consequences.

METHODS

Participants were 270 individuals, 16-18 years old, screened on the basis of the history of family alcohol abuse. Individuals were asked to (1) make judgments of drunkenness in relation to the legal limits in response to factorially manipulated external cues on number of drinks, time taken to consume, and type of beverage, using the methodology of Jaccard and Turrisi (1987), and (2) answer several questions regarding their alcohol-related behaviors.

RESULTS

Our results indicated that individuals with a positive family history of alcohol abuse were more likely to make judgmental errors and underestimate their drunkenness relative to individuals without a positive family history of alcohol abuse. Moreover, the errors in judgments were more pronounced in situations involving moderate to heavy alcohol consumption. Finally, family history was found to moderate the relationship between underestimation errors and drinking, and drinking and driving tendencies. For individuals with a positive family history of alcohol abuse, the more they tended to underestimate their drunkenness, the more likely they were to binge drink and drive after drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that judgmental errors tend to be an important process variable in the relationship between family history and alcohol-related behavioral tendencies. The findings are discussed with respect to potential behavioral antecedents (e.g., student binge drinking) and development of prevention programs geared toward training students to make more accurate judgments, using external cues.

Delay or probability discounting in a model of impulsive behavior: effect of alcohol

Little is known about the acute effects of drugs of abuse on impulsivity and self-control. In this study, impulsivity was assessed in humans using a computer task that measured delay and probability discounting. Discounting describes how much the value of a reward (or punisher) is decreased when its occurrence is either delayed or uncertain. Twenty-four healthy adult volunteers ingested a moderate dose of ethanol (0.5 or 0.8 g/kg ethanol: n = 12 at each dose) or placebo before completing the discounting task. In the task the participants were given a series of choices between a small, immediate, certain amount of money and $10 that was either delayed (0, 2, 30, 180, or 365 days) or probabilistic (i.e., certainty of receipt was 1.0, .9, .75, .5, or .25). The point at which each individual was indifferent between the smaller immediate or certain reward and the $10 delayed or probabilistic reward was identified using an adjusting-amount procedure. The results indicated that (a) delay and probability discounting were well described by a hyperbolic function; (b) delay and probability discounting were positively correlated within subjects; (c) delay and probability discounting were moderately correlated with personality measures of impulsivity; and (d) alcohol had no effect on discounting.

Intoxicated sexual risk taking: an expectancy or cognitive impairment explanation?

OBJECTIVE

Two experimental studies tested expectancy and impairment explanations for the association between alcohol consumption and unsafe sexual behaviors.

METHOD

Young adults, who were administered alcohol (blood alcohol concentration mean = .08 mg%), placebo or water, rated the likelihood that potential consequences would result from risky sexual practices (Study 1, N = 161) and listed potential consequences that could result from having sex without a condom (Study 2, N = 135).

RESULTS

Intoxicated participants reported lower perceptions of risk (mean [+/-SD] = 4.5+/-2.1) than those who received placebo (mean = 5.8+/-1.3) or water (mean = 5.5+/-1.7). Intoxicated participants also listed fewer negative consequences (mean = 1.3+/-1.2) than those who received placebo (mean = 1.5+/-1.2) or water (mean = 2.1+/-1.5). In addition, participants who expected alcohol to disinhibit their sexual behavior reported stronger postdrinking perceptions of benefit (mean = 2.6+/-1.8) and indicated that they were more likely to engage in risky sexual practices (mean = 2.4+/-1.7) than those who did not expect sexual disinhibition (mean = 2.0+/-1.7, benefit; mean = 1.8+/-1.1, involvement).

CONCLUSIONS

Results support the hypotheses that (1) alcohol-related impairment reduces the drinker's perception of personal risk, and (2) positive outcome expectancies motivate drinkers to engage in risky sexual practices.

Effects of stimulant medication on the lateralisation of line bisection judgements of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

OBJECTIVES

Deficits in the maintenance of attention may underlie problems in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children with ADHD also show asymmetric attention deficits in traditional lateralisation and visuospatial orienting tasks, suggesting right hemispheric (and left hemispace) attentional disturbance. This study aimed to examine the lateralisation of selective attention in ADHD; specifically, the effect of a moving, random dot background, and stimulant medication in the line bisection task.

METHODS

The performance of children with ADHD, on and off methylphenidate, was examined using a computerised horizontal line bisection task with moving and blank backgrounds. Twenty children with a DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD participated with 20 controls, individually matched for age, sex, grade at school, and IQ. Twelve of the 20 children with ADHD were on stimulant medication at the time of testing. Horizontal lines of varying length were presented in the centre of a computer screen, with either a blank background, or a moving, random dot field. The random dots moved either leftward or rightward across the screen at either 40 mm/s or 80 mm/s.

RESULTS

The children with ADHD off medication bisected lines significantly further to the right compared with controls, who showed a small leftward error. Methylphenidate normalised the performance of the children with ADHD for the task with the moving dots.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support previous evidence for a right hemispheric hypoarousal theory of attentional dysfunction, and are consistent with the emerging picture of a lateralised dysfunction of frontostriatal circuitry in ADHD.

Effects of caffeine on perceptual judgment

The present study examined the effects of caffeine on the estimation of felt width of blocks employing haptic presentation. Following a between-subject design, 160 male postgraduate students classified as high or low impulsives received either placebo or one of four doses of caffeine citrate (1, 2, 3 and 4 mg/kg body weight). A double-blind procedure was adopted for drug administration. Caffeine produced differential effects on the performance of high and low impulsives, facilitated performance (decreased error in perceptual judgment) in high impulsives but had no influence on the performance of low impulsives. The dose-response trends also followed different patterns in the two groups of subjects.

Alcohol and violent pornography: responses to permissive and nonpermissive cues

Both alcohol consumption and violent pornography have been implicated independently in the commission of sexual aggression. In addition to alcohol consumption, the presence of alcohol in the context of violent pornography may act as a permissive cue to influence judgments of such material's acceptability and self-reported likelihood of engaging in sexually violent behavior. To test this proposition, an experiment which varied beverage condition (alcohol vs no alcohol), expectancy set (expect vs do not expect alcohol) and a permissive (presence of alcohol) vs nonpermissive (absence of alcohol) cue was conducted on both male and female subjects. Secondary analyses on male subjects alone investigated the role of the personality trait hypermasculinity in affecting judgments. Results showed that (1) alcohol itself rather than expectancy set influenced judgments and willingness to engage in sexual violence; (2) the presence of alcohol interacted with alcohol consumption to affect willingness to engage in sexual violence; (3) men high in hypermasculinity judged the violent pornographic story more positively than did men low in this trait; and (4) alcohol interacted with hypermasculinity to affect acceptability judgments, but only for men low on this trait. These findings are consistent with cognitive disruption models and show promise for future investigations of the influence of permissive cues, as well as the role of hypermasculinity.

Alcohol, age, and piloting: judgement, mood, and actual performance

We have previously described acute and carry-over effects of alcohol on young and older pilots' performance. In the present paper we report the effects of alcohol and age on self-assessment of performance and mood in the same study. Young and older pilots flew in a simulator during an alcohol and placebo condition. In the alcohol condition, they flew after reaching .04 g/dL (.04%) BAL, after .10% BAL, and then 2, 4, 8, 24, and 48 h after .10% BAL (they flew at the same times in the placebo condition). They rated confidence in ability to fly, mood, alertness, and intoxication before each flight, and perceived workload and performance after each flight. As reported in Morrow et al., alcohol had both acute and carry-over effects for 8 h on actual flight performance, with greater acute impairment for older pilots. The present study reports that these older pilots tended to be more aware than the young pilots of acute and carry-over alcohol impairment out to 4 h. By 8 h, however, all pilots were unaware of impairment. Alcohol also had a biphasic effect on mood, which increased on the ascending limb and decreased on the descending limb of the BAL curve.

From the scene to the crime: The effect of alcohol and social context on moral judgment

Forty men and women were given Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview (MJI) while drinking in a natural setting and were asked a series of questions about whether they should and would drive impaired. In a second testing in an academic context, these subjects were given an alternate form of the MJI and were asked whether they drove on the previous occasion. Forty additional men and women completed the MJI in an academic context and responded to the impaired driving questions hypothetically. Results revealed that Ss scored lower on moral maturity in the the social drinking contexts than in the academic contexts, especially when highly intoxicated. Ss responding hypothetically attributed more moral integrity to themselves than to others, indicating they would not drive impaired. The self-righteousness of these attributions was apparent in the behavior of Ss who drove to the social drinking settings--all but 1 drove home, however impaired.

Rate of processing and judgment of response speed: comparing the effects of alcohol and practice

Both alcohol and practice affect choice reaction time. The present study was conducted to investigate the possibility that impairment from alcohol and improvement with practice could be attributed to changes in the efficiency of control mechanisms (Rabbitt, 1979a), some of which depend upon the ability to judge response speed accurately. Twenty subjects participated in a four-choice reaction time experiment in which they received no alcohol (NA) in Session 1 and either no alcohol (10 subjects) or 0.8 ml alcohol (A) per kilogram of body weight (10 subjects) in Session 2. The task was to respond as fast and as accurately as possible to each stimulus. In addition, subjects were required to press a fifth key after any response that they considered to be both fast and accurate. Subjects had no difficulty in performing this task: (1) there was a significant difference of 122 msec between the mean response time for correct responses indicated as fast and that for correct responses not indicated as fast, and (2) subjects indicated 1 in 4 correct responses but only 1 in 64 errors. Alcohol increased all response times by approximately 40 msec. In contrast, practice decreased response times less for correct responses not indicated as fast than for correct responses indicated as fast. The ability to distinguish between fast and slow responses was thus unaffected by alcohol, but was improved by practice. Responses indicated as "fast" were significantly faster than errors, and appeared to occur without warning (unlike errors, which tended to end a sequence of increasingly fast correct responses). The results suggest that alcohol and practice influence choice reaction time in qualitatively different ways: Alcohol impairs overall response speed but has no effect on the ability to judge response speed, whereas practice improves both.

Is event frequency encoded automatically? The case of alcohol intoxication

The four experiments reported show that sensitivity to event frequency is diminished by alcohol intoxication. In two experiments on confusion between presented and generated words, the function relating estimated to actual frequency was steeper for sober than intoxicated subjects. In two experiments on word-frequency estimates after a word-pronunciation task, the influence of alcohol intoxication was identified at the input as opposed to the test stage. We conclude that these findings are inconsistent with the idea that frequency-of-occurrence information is automatically encoded.

Effects of diazepam on cognitive processes in normal subjects

The effects of 10 mg orally-administered diazepam on various aspects of cognition were examined in ten male subjects. Diazepam produced a subjective sense of cognitive impairment and impaired auditory vigilence, immediate recognition of twice presented words, and context-dependent free recall. There was a trend for a significant proportion of subjects to show impairment in delayed recognition of twice-presented words. There was no impairment of context-independent semantic memory, or of subjects' ability to judge how well they had performed on the free recall task. In fact, subjects' subjective sense of cognitive impairment was correlated with their performance on context-dependent memory tasks.

Cannabis and alcohol: effects on stimulated car driving

The effects of cannabis and alcohol on simulated car driving were studied. Cannabis resin containing 4 percent Delta(1)-tetrahydrocannabinol was administered orally in three doses equivalent to 8, 12, and 16 milligrams of that component. Alcohol was given orally in one standard dose of 70 grams. Both cannabis and alcohol increased the time required to brake and start, whereas alcohol increased while cannabis decreased the number of gear changes. An effect of dosage on response was observed with cannabis.

Effects of alcohol and methylphenidate on complex judgments

Methylphenidate HCl (12 mg/70 kg and 20 mg/70 kg), ethyl alcohol (60 g/70 kg), and a placebo (lactose) were given to 50 college student volunteers. Each S received each treatment once during 4 separate sessions, and treatment order was counterbalanced. Ss were experienced bridge players, who were given sets of bidding problems, which varied in storage load, ambiguity level, and answer format (open-ended vs multiple choice). Performances were scored according to (1) frequency of active bids vs passes, and (2) a figure-of-merit assigned to each possible response, as developed from expert consensus. Ss wrote impromptu editorials on assigned topics from which word-count measures of verbal production were derived, and also made periodic self-ratings on mood adjective check lists. No significant drug effects were found on bidding accuracy, although methylphenidate increased the frequency of non-passes. Alcohol produced significant efforts on eight mood clusters while methylphenidate produced little or no measurable effect. Verbal production, however, was reliably increased by methylphenidate but not significantly affected by alcohol.