Inhibitory control and response monitoring are not systematically related to weekly alcohol consumption in the general population

Post-error slowing predicts for relapse in individuals with alcohol use disorder

BACKGROUND

Relapse characterizes addiction. The cognitive phenotype underlying relapse in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) remain unelucidated. Here we aimed to investigate the potential changes in behavioral adjustment in AUD, and the association with relapse.

METHOD

Forty-seven subjects with AUD at Shandong Mental Health Center completed the stop-signal task, the PACS, the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait anxiety questionnaires. Thirty age-matched male healthy subjects served as the control group (HC). In the follow-up, twenty-one subjects remained abstinent, while twenty-six subjects relapsed. Independent sample t-test was applied to measure differences between two groups and logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the potential predictors on relapse.

RESULTS

The results showed that there were significant differences in stop signal reaction time (SSRT) and trigger failure between the AUD and HC groups. Relapsed group showed longer post-error slowing (PES) when compared to the non-relapsed group. The PES could predict relapse in alcohol use disorder.

CONCLUSION

Individuals with AUD showed impaired inhibitory control, which may predict relapse.

Are hazardous drinkers more impulsive than light drinkers? A comprehensive assessment in young adults

Those with alcohol dependence are characteristically impulsive. It is unclear whether the same is true of hazardous drinkers (i.e., women routinely drinking more than 14 units in a typical week but fewer than 35, and men drinking more than 14 units but fewer than 50). Yet, it is important to understand the mechanisms involved in such drinking, since it places the drinker at risk for future harm. The present study thus comprehensively assessed whether impulsivity was elevated in hazardous drinkers, compared to lighter drinkers. An opportunity sample of 57 light and 49 hazardous drinkers was assessed on the following impulsivity subdomains (via the measures in parentheses): (i) trait impulsivity (the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Version 11); (ii) temporal impulsivity (the Monetary Choice Questionnaire); (iii) stopping impulsivity (the Stop-Signal Task); (iv) waiting impulsivity (the Continuous Performance Task or CPT); (v) reward-sensitivity (the Behavioural Activation Scales); and (vi) risk-taking (the Balloon Analogue Risk Task). Alcohol- and other drug-dependent individuals were excluded from the study, while socio-demographics (age, gender, and socio-economic status), mood, binge drinking, and nicotine intake were all controlled for. The groups were compared via a series of Bonferroni-corrected, independent-measures t tests. The results revealed that hazardous drinkers were more impulsive than light drinkers on the CPT; there were no other statistically significant group differences. Consistent with the above, a logistic regression, with drinking group as the dependent variable and the impulsivity indices as independent variables, revealed that only CPT performance was a significant predictor of drinking status. Other than gender, none of the control variables significantly correlated with CPT performance. A sequential linear regression revealed that drinking status continued to predict CPT performance, after first accounting for gender. Thus, from a battery of impulsivity measures, only waiting impulsivity (i.e., CPT score) was elevated in hazardous drinkers, relative to lighter drinkers. Waiting impulsivity may thus be important in the maintenance of hazardous drinking.

"Free won't" after a beer or two: chronic and acute effects of alcohol on neural and behavioral indices of intentional inhibition

BACKGROUND

Response inhibition can be classified into stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition based on the degree of endogenous volition involved. In the past decades, abundant research efforts to study the effects of alcohol on inhibition have focused exclusively on stimulus-driven inhibition. The novel Chasing Memo task measures stimulus-driven and intentional inhibition within the same paradigm. Combined with the stop-signal task, we investigated how alcohol use affects behavioral and psychophysiological correlates of intentional inhibition, as well as stimulus-driven inhibition.

METHODS

Experiment I focused on intentional inhibition and stimulus-driven inhibition in relation to past-year alcohol use. The Chasing Memo task, the stop-signal task, and questionnaires related to substance use and impulsivity were administered to 60 undergraduate students (18-25 years old). Experiment II focused on behavioral and neural correlates acute alcohol use on performance on the Chasing Memo task by means of electroencephalography (EEG). Sixteen young male adults (21-28 years old) performed the Chasing Memo task once under placebo and once under the influence of alcohol (blood alcohol concentration around 0.05%), while EEG was recorded.

RESULTS

In experiment I, AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) total score did not significantly predict stimulus-driven inhibition or intentional inhibition performance. In experiment II, the placebo condition and the alcohol condition were comparable in terms of behavioral indices of stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition as well as task-related EEG patterns. Interestingly, a slow negative readiness potential (RP) was observed with an onset of about 1.2 s, exclusively before participants stopped intentionally.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that both past-year increases in risky alcohol consumption and moderate acute alcohol use have limited effects on stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition. These conclusions cannot be generalized to alcohol use disorder and high intoxication levels. The RP might reflect processes involved in the formation of an intention in general.

Isolating Proactive Slowing from Reactive Inhibitory Control in Heavy Drinkers

Background: Impaired inhibitory control is thought to contribute to alcohol (mis)use. However, current definitions of inhibitory control are over-simplified by a failure to distinguish reactive inhibitory control from proactive slowing. Objectives: To distinguish "reactive" inhibitory control and proactive slowing in heavy drinkers, and characterize associations between both constructs and individual differences in alcohol consumption. Methods: Sixty heavy drinkers completed self-reported measures of alcohol consumption, followed by two modified Stop-Signal tasks and an AX-continuous performance task in a laboratory setting. Results: Heavy drinkers demonstrated proactive slowing when inhibition was more likely but individual differences in proactive slowing and reactive stopping were unrelated to individual differences in alcohol consumption. Conclusions/Importance: Within a sample of heavy drinkers, individual differences in reactive inhibitory control and proactive slowing are unrelated to individual differences in alcohol consumption.

Meta-analysis of aberrant post-error slowing in substance use disorder: implications for behavioral adaptation and self-control

Individual with substance use disorders have well-recognized impairments in cognitive control, including in behavioral adaptation after mistakes. One way in which this impairment manifests is via diminished post-error slowing, the increase in reaction time following a task-related error that is posited to reflect cautionary or corrective behavior. Yet, in the substance use disorder literature, findings with regard to post-error slowing have been inconsistent, and thus could benefit from quantitative integration. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of case-control studies examining post-error slowing in addiction. Twelve studies with 15 unique comparisons were identified, comprising 567 substance users and 384 healthy controls across three broad types of inhibitory control paradigms (go-no/go, conflict resolution, and stop signal tasks, respectively). Results of the random-effects meta-analysis revealed a moderate group difference across all studies (Cohen's d = 0.31), such that the individuals with substance use disorder had diminished post-error slowing compared with controls. Despite this omnibus effect, there was also large variability in the magnitude of the effects, explained in part by differences between studies in task complexity. These findings suggest that post-error slowing may serve as a promising and easy-to-implement measure of cognitive control impairment in substance use disorder, with potential links to aberrant brain function in cognitive control areas such as the anterior cingulate cortex.

Thalamic Cortical Error-Related Responses in Adult Social Drinkers: Sex Differences and Problem Alcohol Use

BACKGROUND

Error-related brain activities are altered in individuals with substance use disorders. Here we examined error-related activities in relation to problem drinking in nondependent alcohol drinkers. In particular, we investigated sex differences and whether altered error responses are related to post-error behavioral control.

METHODS

A sample of 145 nondependent drinkers (77 women) performed the stop-signal task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Imaging data were processed and modeled using statistical parametric mapping. Independent sample t test and linear regression were employed to examine sex differences in error response and relationship between error response and problem drinking.

RESULTS

Compared with men, women showed greater error-related (stop error > go success) activations in the bilateral thalamus, right middle/superior temporal cortex, and bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. In whole-brain linear regression of error responses against the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score, a wide swath of cortical and subcortical regions, including the thalamus, showed decreased activation in association with problem drinking in women but not in men. However, men and women were not different in the extent of post-error slowing and decreased thalamic error response in association with problem drinking was not related to the extent of post-error slowing in women.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest sex differences in error-related activations with heavier drinking associated with reduced error activations in women but not in men. These differences in cerebral activations may reflect higher physiological arousal in response to errors and greater vulnerability of saliency-related arousal response to problem drinking in female as compared with male social drinkers.