Negative urgency as a risk factor for hazardous alcohol use: Dual influences of cognitive control and reinforcement processing

Risk-Taking Is Associated with Decreased Subjective Value Signals and Increased Prediction Error Signals in the Hot Columbia Card Task

It remains a pressing concern to understand how neural computations relate to risky decisions. However, most observations of brain-behavior relationships in the risk-taking domain lack a rigorous computational basis or fail to emulate of the dynamic, sequential nature of real-life risky decision-making. Recent advances emphasize the role of neural prediction error (PE) signals. We modeled, according to prospect theory, the choices of n = 43 human participants (33 females, 10 males) performing an EEG version of the hot Columbia Card Task, featuring rounds of sequential decisions between stopping (safe option) and continuing with increasing odds of a high loss (risky option). Single-trial regression EEG analyses yielded a subjective value signal at centroparietal (300-700 ms) and frontocentral (>800 ms) electrodes and in the delta band, as well as PE signals tied to the feedback-related negativity, P3a, and P3b, and in the theta band. Higher risk preference (total number of risky choices) was linked to attenuated subjective value signals but increased PE signals. Higher P3-like activity associated with the most positive PE in each round predicted stopping in the present round but not risk-taking in the subsequent round. Our findings indicate that decreased representation of decision values and increased sensitivity to winning despite low odds (positive PE) facilitate risky choices at the subject level. Strong neural responses when gains are least expected (the most positive PE on each round) adaptively contribute to safer choices at the trial-by-trial level but do not affect risky choice at the round-by-round level.

The influence of negative urgency and mood inductions on alcohol cognitions

BACKGROUND

Negative urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly during negative emotional states, is a robust risk factor for alcohol misuse that is posited to function in part through alcohol-related cognitions. Nonetheless, relatively little research has examined mood-based fluctuations in such cognitions, which could help to explain how the trait of NU translates to impulsive alcohol-related behaviors. We examined how NU impacted several alcohol cognitions (positive/negative alcohol expectancies, positive/negative alcohol valuations, and alcohol craving for positive/negative emotional reinforcement) before and after negative, neutral, or positive mood inductions. We hypothesized that NU would predict greater and more favorable endorsement of alcohol and its effects following negative (vs. positive or neutral) mood induction.

METHODS

Participants (N = 428) were southern-midwestern college students recruited for an online experiment. Following the provision of consent, participants rated NU and preinduction alcohol cognitions, and were then randomly assigned to one of three (negative, neutral, or positive) mood inductions; subsequently, postinduction alcohol-cognition ratings were immediately obtained. We conducted six robust multilevel linear models (one per DV) examining NU's influence on within-person changes in alcohol cognitions across each mood induction.

RESULTS

No three-way interactions were identified and only one two-way interaction involving NU was identified. There were main effects across mood induction conditions and time points for NU predicting greater endorsement of positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies, and greater alcohol craving for positive and negative emotional reinforcement.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater NU predicts greater perceived likelihood of alcohol's effects, alongside greater desire for mood improvement from alcohol. The absence of three-way interactive effects indicates NU's influence on mood-dependent fluctuations in alcohol cognitions may manifest over longer timescales (e.g., months and years), involve alternative cognitive processes (e.g., drinking motives and implicit alcohol cognitions), and apply more broadly to desires for mood improvement than purely negative emotional reinforcement.

Anhedonia and impulsivity in college alcohol use: A path analysis

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol use is a substantial problem among college students and has several negative consequences. The current study examined the associations between anhedonia and alcohol use and related problems via impulsive behavior (e.g., negative urgency, sensation seeking). We parsed anhedonia into four specific facets: consummatory, anticipatory, recreational, and social anhedonia.

PARTICIPANTS

Six hundred and forty college students aged 18-25 were included in the final analysis.

METHOD

Data were collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Self-report inventories assessing for anhedonia, alcohol use, impulsive behavior, and depressed mood were utilized.

RESULTS

Recreational consummatory anhedonia was negatively associated with alcohol use and alcohol-related problems through negative urgency. Recreational consummatory anhedonia also had significant negative associations with alcohol consumption via sensation seeking. Further, social anticipatory anhedonia was positively associated with alcohol use and related problems via negative urgency.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights important associations between anhedonia, impulsivity, and alcohol use and related problems.