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Gautier M, Pabst A, Maurage P. Social decision making in severe alcohol use disorder: Scoping review and experimental perspectives. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2021; 45:1548-1559. [PMID: 34342010 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patients with severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD) demonstrate multifaceted impairments in social cognition abilities, including emotional decoding or Theory of Mind. Such impairments are associated with real-life interpersonal difficulties, which in turn could contribute to the persistence of SAUD. However, little is known regarding how patients with SAUD make decisions in a social context and this literature has not been comprehensively reviewed. OBJECTIVES The main aim of this paper was to conduct the first review specifically focusing on social decision-making abilities in SAUD. Following PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews, we describe existing knowledge regarding the difficulties experienced by patients with SAUD during social interactions. Our second objective was to propose perspectives for future research, based on the shortcomings identified in the available literature. DESIGN We searched three online databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus) and identified 14 papers using behavioral tasks to assess social decision making in patients with SAUD. RESULTS Included studies assessed social decision making through three paradigms: (1) economic games (four papers), (2) moral dilemmas (four papers), and (3) interpersonal problem-solving (six papers). Results indicated that patients with SAUD behave differently from controls in all three paradigms. CONCLUSIONS Previous studies suggested large-scale social decision-making impairments or biases in SAUD. However, in light of the limited number of studies available and of the restricted set of processes measured, we call for the extension of this field through more ecologically relevant and model-based paradigms in order to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of these effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mado Gautier
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology Research Group (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Arthur Pabst
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology Research Group (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Pierre Maurage
- Louvain Experimental Psychopathology Research Group (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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2
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A biological framework for emotional dysregulation in alcohol misuse: from gut to brain. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:1098-1118. [PMID: 33288871 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-020-00970-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2020] [Revised: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been associated with impairments in social and emotional cognition that play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of addiction. Repeated alcohol intoxications trigger inflammatory processes and sensitise the immune system. In addition, emerging data point to perturbations in the gut microbiome as a key regulator of the inflammatory cascade in AUD. Inflammation and social cognition are potent modulators of one another. At the same time, accumulating evidence implicates the gut microbiome in shaping emotional and social cognition, suggesting the possibility of a common underlying loop of crucial importance for addiction. Here we propose an integrative microbiome neuro-immuno-affective framework of how emotional dysregulation and alcohol-related microbiome dysbiosis could accelerate the cycle of addiction. We outline the overlapping effects of chronic alcohol use, inflammation and microbiome alterations on the fronto-limbic circuitry as a convergence hub for emotional dysregulation. We discuss the interdependent relationship of social cognition, immunity and the microbiome in relation to alcohol misuse- from binge drinking to addiction. In addition, we emphasise adolescence as a sensitive period for the confluence of alcohol harmful effects and emotional dysregulation in the developing gut-brain axis.
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Lannoy S, Dricot L, Benzerouk F, Portefaix C, Barrière S, Quaglino V, Naassila M, Kaladjian A, Gierski F. Neural Responses to the Implicit Processing of Emotional Facial Expressions in Binge Drinking. Alcohol Alcohol 2021; 56:166-174. [PMID: 33075804 DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agaa093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2020] [Revised: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
AIMS Emotional processing is a crucial ability in human and impairments in the processing of emotions are considered as transdiagnostic processes in psychopathology. In alcohol use disorder, numerous studies have investigated emotional processing and showed emotional deficits related to the perpetuation of alcohol use. Recent studies have also explored this topic in binge drinking, but few studies are available. In this paper, we explored whether emotional difficulties in binge drinking may be extended to implicit emotion processing. METHODS We compared 39 binge drinkers (BD) and 40 non-binge drinkers who performed a gender categorization task while faces represented emotional expressions of anger, fear, happiness and sadness. Emotional brain responses were assessed thanks to functional magnetic resonance imaging. Emotional versus non-emotional conditions were first contrasted in the whole sample and groups were then compared. RESULTS Emotional condition led to differential activations than non-emotional condition, supporting the validity of the paradigm. Regarding group comparisons, BD exhibited higher activations in the left posterior cerebellum (anger processing) and the right anterior cingulate (fear processing) as well as lower activations in the left insula (happiness), the right post-central gyrus, the right cingulate gyrus and the right medial frontal gyrus (sadness processing). CONCLUSIONS Beyond emotional identification, BD presented differential brain responses following the implicit processing of emotions. Emotional difficulties in binge drinking might be related to a more automatic/unconscious processing of emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Séverine Lannoy
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.,Louvain Experimental Psychopathology (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, 10 Place Cardinal Mercier, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.,Cognition Health and Society Laboratory (EA 6291), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, 57 rue Pierre Taittinger, 51571 Reims, France
| | - Laurence Dricot
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, 81 Avenue E Mounier, 1200 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Farid Benzerouk
- Cognition Health and Society Laboratory (EA 6291), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, 57 rue Pierre Taittinger, 51571 Reims, France.,Department of Psychiatry, CHU Reims, EPSM Marne, 8 rue Roger Aubry, 51100 Reims, France
| | - Christophe Portefaix
- Department of Medical Imaging, Maison Blanche Hospital, Reims University Hospital, 45 Avenue Cognacq Jay, 51100 Reims, France.,CReSTIC Laboratory (EA 3804), University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Campus Moulin de la Housse, Chemin des Rouliers, 51680 Reims, France
| | - Sarah Barrière
- Department of Psychiatry, CHU Reims, EPSM Marne, 8 rue Roger Aubry, 51100 Reims, France
| | - Véronique Quaglino
- Laboratoire CRP-CPO (EA 7273), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Chemin du Thil, 80025 Amiens, France
| | - Mickaël Naassila
- INSERM U1247 GRAP, Research Group on Alcohol and Drugs, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Avenue Laennec, 80054 Amiens, France
| | - Arthur Kaladjian
- Cognition Health and Society Laboratory (EA 6291), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, 57 rue Pierre Taittinger, 51571 Reims, France.,Department of Psychiatry, CHU Reims, EPSM Marne, 8 rue Roger Aubry, 51100 Reims, France
| | - Fabien Gierski
- Cognition Health and Society Laboratory (EA 6291), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, 57 rue Pierre Taittinger, 51571 Reims, France.,Department of Psychiatry, CHU Reims, EPSM Marne, 8 rue Roger Aubry, 51100 Reims, France.,INSERM U1247 GRAP, Research Group on Alcohol and Drugs, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Avenue Laennec, 80054 Amiens, France
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4
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Lewis B, Price JL, Garcia CC, Nixon SJ. Emotional Face Processing among Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorders: Investigating Sex Differences and Relationships with Interpersonal Functioning. Alcohol Alcohol 2020; 54:361-369. [PMID: 30796771 DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agz010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Revised: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals in treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) display deficits across a broad range of cognitive processes. Disruptions in affective processing are understudied, but may be particularly important for interpersonal functioning and post-treatment adaptation. In particular, the role of sex in AUD-associated emotion processing deficits remains largely unaddressed and was a focus of the current investigation. METHODS Fifty-six treatment seekers with AUD and 54 healthy community controls (N = 110) were administered an emotional face discrimination task. Non-affective tasks included a sex-discrimination task and two brief measures of executive functioning. Two measures of interpersonal function were included. RESULTS Emotion processing deficits were evident among women with AUD relative to other groups. This sex-contingent relationship was not observed in measures of executive function, sex-discrimination or interpersonal problems, although individuals with AUD performed more poorly on these measures. CONCLUSIONS Results were consistent with extant literatures examining cognitive, affective and interpersonal functioning among individuals with AUD, and provided novel evidence of vulnerability to alcohol-associated deficits in emotion processing among women. While similar sex-contingent effects were not apparent among other measures, results support modest interrelationships, specifically including the import of emotion processing to interpersonal functioning in AUD. These data offer guidance for further systematic investigation and highlight important considerations for future relapse-prevention and recovery-facilitation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Lewis
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Center for Addiction Research & Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Julianne L Price
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Center for Addiction Research & Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Christian C Garcia
- Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Center for Addiction Research & Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Sara Jo Nixon
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Center for Addiction Research & Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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Electrophysiological correlates of emotional crossmodal processing in binge drinking. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 18:1076-1088. [PMID: 30094563 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-018-0623-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Emotional crossmodal integration (i.e., multisensorial decoding of emotions) is a crucial process that ensures adaptive social behaviors and responses to the environment. Recent evidence suggests that in binge drinking-an excessive alcohol consumption pattern associated with psychological and cerebral deficits-crossmodal integration is preserved at the behavioral level. Although some studies have suggested brain modifications during affective processing in binge drinking, nothing is known about the cerebral correlates of crossmodal integration. In the current study, we asked 53 university students (17 binge drinkers, 17 moderate drinkers, 19 nondrinkers) to perform an emotional crossmodal task while their behavioral and neurophysiological responses were recorded. Participants had to identify happiness and anger in three conditions (unimodal, crossmodal congruent, crossmodal incongruent) and two modalities (face and/or voice). Binge drinkers did not significantly differ from moderate drinkers and nondrinkers at the behavioral level. However, widespread cerebral modifications were found at perceptual (N100) and mainly at decisional (P3b) stages in binge drinkers, indexed by slower brain processing and stronger activity. These cerebral modifications were mostly related to anger processing and crossmodal integration. This study highlights higher electrophysiological activity in the absence of behavioral deficits, which could index a potential compensation process in binge drinkers. In line with results found in severe alcohol-use disorders, these electrophysiological findings show modified anger processing, which might have a deleterious impact on social functioning. Moreover, this study suggests impaired crossmodal integration at early stages of alcohol-related disorders.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE To review deficits in emotional processing and social cognition potentially contributing to the dysfunctional emotion regulation and difficulties with interpersonal relationships observed in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and to provide directions for future research. METHOD First is presented a review of emotional and social-cognitive impairments in recently detoxified AUD individuals that include alexithymia, difficulties in decoding others' emotions, and reduced theory of mind and empathy skills. Social cognition disorders in AUD pose different issues discussed, such as whether (1) these deficits are consequences of excessive alcohol consumption or premorbid risk factors for addiction, (2) emotional and social impairments impede positive treatment outcome, (3) recovery of social abilities is possible with sustained abstinence, and (4) AUD patients are unaware of their emotional and social dysfunctions. Finally, current knowledge on structural and functional brain correlates of these deficits in AUD are reviewed. RESULTS Emotional and social-cognitive functions affected in AUD can potentially compromise efforts to initiate and maintain abstinence by hampering efficacy of clinical treatment. Such dysfunction can obstruct efforts to enable or reinstate higher-order abilities such as emotional self-regulation, motivation to change, success in interpersonal/social interactions, and emotional insight and awareness of social dysfunctions (i.e., accurate metacognition). CONCLUSIONS The present review highlights the need to account for emotional processing and social cognition in the evaluation and rehabilitation of alcohol-related neurocognitive disorders and to consider psychotherapeutic treatment involving remediation of emotional and social skills as implemented in psychiatric and neurological disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Hoffman LA, Lewis B, Nixon SJ. Neurophysiological and Interpersonal Correlates of Emotional Face Processing in Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2019; 43:1928-1936. [PMID: 31403716 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A growing literature suggests deficient emotional facial expression (EFE) processing among recently abstinent individuals with alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Further investigation is needed to clarify valence-related discrepancies and elucidate neural and psychosocial correlates. We examined neurobehavioral indices of EFE processing and interpersonal problems in treatment seekers with AUDs and healthy community controls (CCs). METHODS Thirty-four individuals with AUDs and 39 CCs completed an emotion judgment task (EJT), requiring discrimination between happy, angry, and sad EFEs. A second task requiring discrimination of male and female faces with neutral expressions served as the control task (i.e., sex judgment task, SJT). Neurophysiological (i.e., N170 and P3) and behavioral measures were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models (GLMM). Interpersonal problems were assessed with the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-64 (IIP-64). The relationship of IIP-64 and EJT performance was investigated via within-group correlations. RESULTS Analysis of the SJT revealed no group differences in behavioral measures, N170 amplitude, or P3 latency. P3 amplitudes, however, were significantly lower in the AUD group. For the EJT, initial observations of group differences in P3 amplitude were accounted for by differences in the control task. Behavioral analyses indicated that the AUD group was significantly less accurate than the CC group. Hypothesis-driven analyses using GLMM-estimated group differences indicated that anger processing was affected to a greater degree than were other emotions. Significant EJT/IIP-64 correlations were observed for anger processing within the AUD group and were confined to IIP-64 subscales with relatively high ratings on the affiliation dimension. CONCLUSIONS Findings provide partial support for an emotion-specific processing deficit in persons with AUDs. Anger processing was more robustly affected than other emotions and was associated with interpersonal problems characterized by being overly needy, nonassertive, and overly accommodating. Results extend prior reports and reinforce the need for comprehensive study of emotion processing and its real-world implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren A Hoffman
- Recovery Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Ben Lewis
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.,Center for Addiction Research & Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
| | - Sara Jo Nixon
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.,Center for Addiction Research & Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
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8
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Altered oscillatory brain dynamics of emotional processing in young binge drinkers. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 18:43-57. [PMID: 29127656 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-017-0551-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Heavy episodic drinking, also termed binge drinking, is commonly practiced by young adults. It is accompanied by a range of cognitive, affective, and social problems, but the neural dynamics underlying changes in emotional functions is poorly understood. To investigate the behavioral and brain indices of affective processing as a function of binge drinking, young, healthy participants (23.3 ± 3.3 years) were assigned to two groups (n = 32 each) based on their drinking habits. Binge drinking (BD) participants reported drinking heavily with at least five binge episodes in the last 6 months, whereas light drinkers (LD) reported no more than one binge episode in the last 6 months. Participants provided subjective ratings of emotionally evocative images with negative, positive, erotic, and neutral themes mostly selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Electroencephalography (EEG) signal was recorded with a 64-channel system and analyzed in theta frequency band (4-7 Hz) with Morlet wavelets. Subjective ratings of the IAPS pictures were equivalent across both groups. However, affective modulation of event-related theta power both during early appraisal and later integrative processing stages was attenuated in BD, particularly those engaging in high-intensity drinking. These findings suggest that binge drinking is associated with altered neurophysiological indices of affective functions that are reflected in lower theta responsivity to emotions. The blunted long-range cortico-cortical and corticolimbic integration is consistent with compromised affective functions in alcohol use disorder. These findings may have implications for diagnostic and intervention strategies in heavy alcohol users.
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9
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Lannoy S, Billieux J, Dormal V, Maurage P. Behavioral and Cerebral Impairments Associated with Binge Drinking in Youth: A Critical Review. Psychol Belg 2019; 59:116-155. [PMID: 31328014 PMCID: PMC6625552 DOI: 10.5334/pb.476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Binge drinking is a widespread alcohol consumption pattern in youth that is linked to important behavioral and cerebral impairments, in both the short and the long term. From a critical review of the current literature on this topic, we conclude that binge drinkers display executive impairments, cerebral modifications, and problems with emotion-related processes. Five key empirical and theoretical topics are discussed to pave the way for future research in the field: (1) the specificity of the brain modifications observed in binge drinkers that may index a compensatory mechanism or result from multiple withdrawals; (2) the nature of the relationship between binge drinking and impairments, suggesting reciprocal influences between excessive alcohol consumption and executive deficits; (3) the possible recovery of brain and cognitive functioning after the cessation of binge drinking; (4) the validity of the continuum hypothesis, suggesting links between binge drinking and severe alcohol use disorders; and (5) the existing strategies to reduce binge drinking habits or rehabilitate the associated cognitive deficits. Future perspectives are described in relation to the questions raised to identify the crucial variables to be addressed in research and clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Séverine Lannoy
- Cognition Health Society Laboratory (C2S – EA 6291), Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, FR
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BE
| | - Joël Billieux
- Addictive and Compulsive Behaviours Lab (ACB-Lab), Institute for Health and Behaviour, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, LU
| | - Valérie Dormal
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BE
| | - Pierre Maurage
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology (LEP), Psychological Science Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BE
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10
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Molitor C, Maurage P, Petit G, Poncin M, Leclercq S, Rolland B, de Timary P. Les symptômes thymiques liés à l’usage d’alcool. ANNALES MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGIQUES 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.amp.2018.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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11
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Rupp CI, Derntl B, Osthaus F, Kemmler G, Fleischhacker WW. Impact of Social Cognition on Alcohol Dependence Treatment Outcome: Poorer Facial Emotion Recognition Predicts Relapse/Dropout. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2017; 41:2197-2206. [DOI: 10.1111/acer.13522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 10/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Claudia I. Rupp
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics; Division of Psychiatry I; Medical University Innsbruck; Innsbruck Austria
| | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy; Medical University Tübingen; Tübingen Germany
- Werner Reichardt Center for Integrative Neuroscience; University of Tübingen; Tübingen Germany
- LEAD Graduate School; University of Tübingen; Tübingen Germany
| | - Friederike Osthaus
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics; Division of Psychiatry I; Medical University Innsbruck; Innsbruck Austria
| | - Georg Kemmler
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics; Division of Psychiatry I; Medical University Innsbruck; Innsbruck Austria
| | - W. Wolfgang Fleischhacker
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics; Division of Psychiatry I; Medical University Innsbruck; Innsbruck Austria
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12
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Carrà G, Nicolini G, Lax A, Bartoli F, Castellano F, Chiorazzi A, Gamba G, Bava M, Crocamo C, Papagno C. Facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia: An exploratory study on the role of comorbid alcohol and substance use disorders and COMT Val158Met. Hum Psychopharmacol 2017; 32. [PMID: 28913946 DOI: 10.1002/hup.2630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2017] [Revised: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 08/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To explore whether facial emotion recognition (FER), impaired in both schizophrenia and alcohol and substance use disorders (AUDs/SUDs), is additionally compromised among comorbid subjects, also considering the role of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study, randomly recruiting 67 subjects with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of schizophrenia, and rigorously assessing AUDs/SUDs and COMT Val158Met polymorphism. FER was assessed using the Ekman 60 Faces Test- EK-60F. RESULTS As a whole, the sample scored significantly lower than normative data on EK-60F. However, subjects with comorbid AUDs/SUDs did not perform worse on EK-60F than those without, who had a better performance on EK-60F if they carried the COMT Val/Met variant. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first to date examining the impact of AUDs/SUDs and COMT variants on FER in an epidemiologically representative sample of subjects with schizophrenia. Our findings do not suggest an additional impairment from comorbid AUDs/SUDs on FER among subjects with schizophrenia, whilst COMT Val158Met, though based on a limited sample, might have a role just among those without AUDs/SUDs. Based on our results, additional research is needed also exploring differential roles of various substances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Carrà
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy.,Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK
| | - Gabriella Nicolini
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Annamaria Lax
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Francesco Bartoli
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Filippo Castellano
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Alessia Chiorazzi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Giulia Gamba
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Mattia Bava
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Cristina Crocamo
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Costanza Papagno
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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Abstract
It is of the utmost importance for an organism to rapidly detect and react to changes in its environment. The oddball paradigm has repeatedly been used to explore the underlying cognitive and neurophysiological components of change detection. It is also used to investigate the special role of emotional content in perception and attention (emotional oddball paradigm; EOP). In this article, the EOP is systematically reviewed. The EOP is, for instance, used as a tool to address questions as to what degree emotional deviant stimuli trigger orientation reactions, which role the emotional context plays in the processing of deviant information, and how the processing of emotional deviant information differs interindividually (including clinical populations). Two main variants with regard to the emotionality of standards and deviants are defined. Most of the identified EOP studies report EEG data but an overview of behavioral data is also provided in this review. We integrate evidence from 99 EOP experiments and shape the EOP's theoretical background under the consideration of other paradigms’ mechanisms and theories.
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14
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Donadon MF, Osório FDL. Current alcohol dependence and emotional facial expression recognition: a cross-sectional study. ARCH CLIN PSYCHIAT 2017. [DOI: 10.1590/0101-60830000000120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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15
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Brion M, Pitel AL, D'Hondt F. New Perspectives in the Exploration of Korsakoff's Syndrome: The Usefulness of Neurophysiological Markers. Front Psychol 2016; 7:168. [PMID: 26909060 PMCID: PMC4754411 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 01/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
This perspective aims at underlining the usefulness of event-related potentials (ERP) to better understand the brain correlates of Korsakoff’s syndrome (KS), a neuropsychiatric disease characterized by severe memory impairment and most frequently resulting as a neurological complication of alcohol-dependence (AD). While ERP have been broadly used in AD, it has up to now been very little applied in KS or in the comparison of KS and AD. Within the framework of dual-process models, an influential theory postulating that addictive states result from an imbalance between under-activated reflective system and over-activated automatic-affective one, this paper proposes: (1) a brief synthesis of the main results of ERP studies in AD and KS, and (2) new research avenues using ERP to identify the electrophysiological correlates of cognitive and emotional dysfunction in KS. These experimental perspectives aim at exploring the continuity hypothesis, which postulates a gradient of impairments from AD to KS. We conclude on the possibility of developing neuropsychological strategies with electrophysiological follow-up to ensure KS diagnosis and test the efficacy of patient’s neurocognitive rehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mélanie Brion
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Anne-Lise Pitel
- INSERM, Unité U1077, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université de Caen-Basse Normandie - GIP Cyceron - CHU Caen Caen, France
| | - Fabien D'Hondt
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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Castellano F, Bartoli F, Crocamo C, Gamba G, Tremolada M, Santambrogio J, Clerici M, Carrà G. Facial emotion recognition in alcohol and substance use disorders: A meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 59:147-54. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2015] [Revised: 10/02/2015] [Accepted: 11/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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D'Hondt F, de Timary P, Bruneau Y, Maurage P. Categorical perception of emotional facial expressions in alcohol-dependence. Drug Alcohol Depend 2015; 156:267-274. [PMID: 26433563 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2015] [Revised: 08/07/2015] [Accepted: 09/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Emotional deficits have been widely described in alcohol-dependence, but several subtle and critical emotional decoding abilities remain to be investigated. In particular, the ability of alcohol-dependent individuals to process emotionally ambiguous facial stimuli, which are more frequent in everyday life than full emotional facial expressions, remains poorly understood. The present study used a categorical perception paradigm to evaluate the identification of mixed emotional facial expressions among alcohol-dependent participants. METHOD Nineteen recently detoxified participants with alcohol-dependence and 19 healthy controls were presented with facial stimuli depicting four emotional facial expressions (happy, angry, sad, and neutral), morphed along continua between each possible pair of emotions. Participants had to indicate the predominant emotion within the randomly presented facial stimuli. For each emotional category, a logistic function that estimated the percentage of identification according to the morph steps was adjusted for each participant's data. RESULTS While there was no significant group difference regarding the response slope (p=0.502, ηp(2)=0.014), the identification threshold was significantly increased in alcohol-dependent participants compared to controls (p=0.007, ηp(2)=0.204), independently of the emotional category. CONCLUSIONS The categorical perception of emotional facial expression per se appeared preserved in alcohol-dependence, but alcohol-dependent participants exhibited a bias in emotional facial expression decoding characterized by a global under-identification. This study is the first to evidence a deficit of alcohol-dependent individuals in the processing of ambiguous emotional facial expressions by using this emotional continuum paradigm measuring the categorical perception effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien D'Hondt
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Place du Cardinal Mercier 10, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
| | - Philippe de Timary
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Place du Cardinal Mercier 10, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, Saint-Luc University Hospital, Avenue Hippocrate 10, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Yaelle Bruneau
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Place du Cardinal Mercier 10, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
| | - Pierre Maurage
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Place du Cardinal Mercier 10, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
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The N170 and face perception in psychiatric and neurological disorders: A systematic review. Clin Neurophysiol 2014; 126:1141-1158. [PMID: 25306210 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2014.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2014] [Revised: 09/08/2014] [Accepted: 09/10/2014] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To systematically evaluate evidence for configural and affective face processing abnormalities as measured by the N170 and Vertex Positive Potential (VPP) event-related potential components, and analogous M170 magnetoencephalography (MEG) component, in neurological and psychiatric disorders. METHODS 1251 unique articles were identified using PsychINFO and PubMed databases. Sixty-seven studies were selected for review, which employed various tasks to measure the N170, M170 or VPP; the 13 neurological/psychiatric conditions were Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Alcohol Dependence, Alzheimer's Disease, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), Bipolar Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa, Fibromyalgia, Huntington's Disease, Major Depressive Disorder, Parkinson's Disease, Prosopagnosia, Schizophrenia and Social Phobia. RESULTS Smaller N170 and VPP amplitudes to faces compared to healthy controls were consistently reported in Schizophrenia but not in ASDs. In Schizophrenia N170 and VPP measures were not correlated with clinical symptoms. Findings from other disorders were highly inconsistent; however, reported group differences were almost always smaller amplitudes or slower latencies to emotional faces in disordered groups regardless of diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that N170/VPP abnormalities index non-specific facial affect processing dysfunction in these neurological and psychiatric conditions, reflecting social impairments being broadly characteristic of these groups. SIGNIFICANCE The N170 and analogous components hold promise as diagnostic and treatment monitoring biomarkers for social dysfunction.
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Maurage P, de Timary P, Billieux J, Collignon M, Heeren A. Attentional alterations in alcohol dependence are underpinned by specific executive control deficits. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2014; 38:2105-12. [PMID: 24844400 DOI: 10.1111/acer.12444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2013] [Accepted: 04/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Attentional biases and deficits play a central role in the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence, but the underlying attentional processes accounting for these deficits have been very little explored. Importantly, the differential alterations across the 3 attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) remain unclear in this pathology. METHODS Thirty recently detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals and 30 paired controls completed the Attention Network Test, which allow exploring the attentional alterations specifically related to the 3 attentional networks. RESULTS Alcohol-dependent individuals presented globally delayed reaction times compared to controls. More centrally, they showed a differential deficit across attention networks, with a preserved performance for alerting and orienting networks but impaired executive control (p < 0.001). This deficit was not related to psychopathological comorbidities but was positively correlated with the duration of alcohol-dependence habits, the number of previous detoxification treatments and the mean alcohol consumption before detoxification. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that attentional alterations in alcohol dependence are centrally due to a specific alteration of executive control. Intervention programs focusing on executive components of attention should be promoted, and these results support the frontal lobe hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Maurage
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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D'Hondt F, Lepore F, Maurage P. Are visual impairments responsible for emotion decoding deficits in alcohol-dependence? Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:128. [PMID: 24653688 PMCID: PMC3948105 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2013] [Accepted: 02/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotional visual perception deficits constitute a major problem in alcohol-dependence. Indeed, the ability to assess the affective content of external cues is a key adaptive function, as it allows on the one hand the processing of potentially threatening or advantageous stimuli, and on the other hand the establishment of appropriate social interactions (by enabling rapid decoding of the affective state of others from their facial expressions). While such deficits have been classically considered as reflecting a genuine emotion decoding impairment in alcohol-dependence, converging evidence suggests that underlying visual deficits might play a role in emotional alterations. This hypothesis appears to be relevant especially as data from healthy populations indicate that a coarse but fast analysis of visual inputs would allow emotional processing to arise from early stages of perception. After reviewing those findings and the associated models, the present paper underlines data showing that rapid interactions between emotion and vision could be impaired in alcohol-dependence and provides new research avenues that may ultimately offer a better understanding of the roots of emotional deficits in this pathological state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien D'Hondt
- Département de Psychologie, Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, Université de Montréal Montréal, QC, Canada ; Centre de Recherche CHU Sainte-Justine Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Franco Lepore
- Département de Psychologie, Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, Université de Montréal Montréal, QC, Canada ; Centre de Recherche CHU Sainte-Justine Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Pierre Maurage
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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Donadon MF, Osório FDL. Recognition of facial expressions by alcoholic patients: a systematic literature review. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2014; 10:1655-63. [PMID: 25228806 PMCID: PMC4161523 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s65376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcohol abuse and dependence can cause a wide variety of cognitive, psychomotor, and visual-spatial deficits. It is questionable whether this condition is associated with impairments in the recognition of affective and/or emotional information. Such impairments may promote deficits in social cognition and, consequently, in the adaptation and interaction of alcohol abusers with their social environment. The aim of this systematic review was to systematize the literature on alcoholics' recognition of basic facial expressions in terms of the following outcome variables: accuracy, emotional intensity, and latency time. METHODS A systematic literature search in the PsycINFO, PubMed, and SciELO electronic databases, with no restrictions regarding publication year, was employed as the study methodology. RESULTS The findings of some studies indicate that alcoholics have greater impairment in facial expression recognition tasks, while others could not differentiate the clinical group from controls. However, there was a trend toward greater deficits in alcoholics. Alcoholics displayed less accuracy in recognition of sadness and disgust and required greater emotional intensity to judge facial expressions corresponding to fear and anger. CONCLUSION The current study was only able to identify trends in the chosen outcome variables. Future studies that aim to provide more precise evidence for the potential influence of alcohol on social cognition are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Fortunata Donadon
- Department of Neurosciences and Behavior, Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil ; Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel-CAPS, Brazil
| | - Flávia de Lima Osório
- Department of Neurosciences and Behavior, Medical School of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil ; Technology Institute for Translational Medicine, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil ; Agency of São Paulo Research Foundation, São Paulo, Brazil
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Maurage P, Campanella S. Experimental and clinical usefulness of crossmodal paradigms in psychiatry: an illustration from emotional processing in alcohol-dependence. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:394. [PMID: 23898250 PMCID: PMC3722513 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2013] [Accepted: 07/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Crossmodal processing (i.e., the construction of a unified representation stemming from distinct sensorial modalities inputs) constitutes a crucial ability in humans' everyday life. It has been extensively explored at cognitive and cerebral levels during the last decade among healthy controls. Paradoxically however, and while difficulties to perform this integrative process have been suggested in a large range of psychopathological states (e.g., schizophrenia and autism), these crossmodal paradigms have been very rarely used in the exploration of psychiatric populations. The main aim of the present paper is thus to underline the experimental and clinical usefulness of exploring crossmodal processes in psychiatry. We will illustrate this proposal by means of the recent data obtained in the crossmodal exploration of emotional alterations in alcohol-dependence. Indeed, emotional decoding impairments might have a role in the development and maintenance of alcohol-dependence, and have been extensively investigated by means of experiments using separated visual or auditory stimulations. Besides these unimodal explorations, we have recently conducted several studies using audio-visual crossmodal paradigms, which has allowed us to improve the ecological validity of the unimodal experimental designs and to offer new insights on the emotional alterations among alcohol-dependent individuals. We will show how these preliminary results can be extended to develop a coherent and ambitious research program using crossmodal designs in various psychiatric populations and sensory modalities. We will finally end the paper by underlining the various potential clinical applications and the fundamental implications that can be raised by this emerging project.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Maurage
- Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Université Catholique de Louvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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Kornreich C, Brevers D, Canivet D, Ermer E, Naranjo C, Constant E, Verbanck P, Campanella S, Noël X. Impaired processing of emotion in music, faces and voices supports a generalized emotional decoding deficit in alcoholism. Addiction 2013; 108:80-8. [PMID: 22725253 DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03995.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2011] [Revised: 02/17/2012] [Accepted: 06/18/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
AIM To test the generalized emotional decoding impairment hypothesis in alcoholism. DESIGN Cross-sectional behavioural study comparing emotion recognition conveyed by faces, voices and musical excerpts. SETTING Alcohol detoxification unit of Brugmann University Hospital. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-five recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients were compared to 25 normal controls matched for sex, age and educational level. MEASUREMENTS From faces, voices and musical excerpts, participants were instructed to rate the intensity of several emotions on a scale from 0 for 'absent' to 9 for 'highly present'. Depression, anxiety and sustained/selective attention capacities were controlled for. FINDINGS Alcohol-dependent patients were less accurate than controls in identifying the target emotion in faces (P < 0.001), voices (P < 0.001) and musical excerpts (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Alcohol-dependent patients who are completing detoxification are impaired in recognizing emotions conveyed by faces, voices and music; these results suggest a generalized emotional decoding impairment. Hypothetically, deficits in the fronto-parietal mirror neurone system could link all these disturbances together.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Kornreich
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
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Campanella S. Why it is time to develop the use of cognitive event-related potentials in the treatment of psychiatric diseases. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2013; 9:1835-45. [PMID: 24348040 PMCID: PMC3849081 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s53687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The relapse rate for many psychiatric disorders is staggeringly high, indicating that treatment methods combining psychotherapy with neuropharmacological interventions are not entirely effective. Therefore, in psychiatry, there is a current push to develop alternatives to psychotherapy and medication-based approaches. Cognitive deficits have gained considerable importance in the field as critical features of mental illness, and it is now believed that they might represent valid therapeutic targets. Indeed, an increase in cognitive skills has been shown to have a long-lasting, positive impact on the patients' quality of life and their clinical symptoms. We hereby present four principal arguments supporting the use of event-related potentials (ERP) that are derived from electroencephalography, which allow the identification of specific neurocognitive deficiencies in patients. These arguments could assist psychiatrists in the development of individualized, targeted therapy, as well as a follow-up and rehabilitation plan specific to each patient's deficit. Furthermore, they can be used as a tool to assess the possible benefits of combination therapy, consisting of medication, psychotherapy, and "ERP-oriented cognitive rehabilitation". Using this strategy, specific cognitive interventions could be planned based on each patient's needs, for an "individualized" or "personalized" therapy, which may have the potential to reduce relapse rates for many psychiatric disorders. The implementation of such a combined approach would require intense collaboration between psychiatry departments, clinical neurophysiology laboratories, and neuropsychological rehabilitation centers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvatore Campanella
- Laboratory of Medical Psychology, and Addictology, ULB Neuroscience institute (UNI), Université Libre de, Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
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Fein G, Key K, Szymanski MD. ERP and RT delays in long-term abstinent alcoholics in processing of emotional facial expressions during gender and emotion categorization tasks. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2010; 34:1127-39. [PMID: 20477779 DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01189.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is considerable evidence that alcoholics differ from nonalcoholics in the processing of stimuli that have emotional content. The current study examines those differences that are present in multi-year abstinent individuals. METHODS We compared reaction time (RT), accuracy, and Event Related Potentials (ERP) measures in long-term abstinent alcoholics (LTAA, n = 52) with that in age- and gender-comparable nonalcoholic controls (NAC, n = 47). Subjects were presented with male and female faces exhibiting happy, neutral, or sad facial expressions and were instructed to identify the picture gender in 1 task and the emotion being expressed in a subsequent task. RESULTS LTAA had slower RTs than NAC when instructed to identify emotion, while RT was comparable when identifying gender. There were no differences between groups on task accuracy. P160 latency was increased in LTAA for both tasks compared to NAC, though P160 amplitude did not differ between groups. The P160 effect was about 5 x as large as the RT effect and was statistically independent of the RT effect, while the RT effect was no longer present after removing variance because of the P160 effect. CONCLUSIONS Our data demonstrate slower early processing of emotional facial stimuli in alcoholics that is unresolved by long-term abstinence and is most sensitively indexed by delayed P160 latency in LTAA.
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Affiliation(s)
- George Fein
- Neurobehavioral Research Inc., Berkeley, California, USA.
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