Frontal P300 decrements, alcohol dependence, and antisocial personality disorder

Variants of the P3 event-related potential operate as indicators of distinct mechanisms contributing to problematic alcohol use

Considerable research has linked relative reduction in the amplitude of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) during cognitive task performance (i.e., Target-P3) with increased risk of alcohol-related problems. A separate literature indicates that a relative increase in the amplitude of the P3 elicited by cues signaling alcohol availability (i.e., ACR-P3) also is associated with alcohol use and problems. To date, no research has integrated these seemingly discrepant findings. Here, we aimed to demonstrate that P3 amplitudes elicited in different task contexts reflect distinct domains of functioning relevant to problematic alcohol involvement (PAI), and therefore can inform heterogeneity in the etiology of PAI. 156 emerging adults (61% women; 88% White/Non-Hispanic) completed a mental rotation task and a picture-viewing task while ERPs were recorded. Participants also completed questionnaire measures of trait disinhibition, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Findings from regression analyses indicated that (a) Target-P3 was negatively associated and ACR-P3 was positively associated with a PAI latent variable; (b) the two P3s accounted for unique variance in PAI, beyond that accounted for by recent drinking; and (c) the association between Target-P3 and PAI-but not ACR-P3 and PAI-was statistically mediated by trait disinhibition. The present findings highlight the unique contributions of distinct functional domains associated with disinhibition and incentive salience in the etiology of PAI. Moreover, findings are consistent with a nuanced understanding of the P3 ERP, whereby its specific meaning varies according to the task context in which it is elicited.

Signal in the noise: Altered brain activation among adolescent alcohol users detected via the analysis of intra-individual variability1

RATIONALE

Unlike its average level, the variability in brain activation over time or trials can capture subtle and brief disruptions likely to occur among participants with low-to-moderate levels of substance use or misuse.

OBJECTIVE

The present study used this intra-individual variability measurement approach to detect neural processing differences associated with light-to-moderate use of alcohol among 14-19-year-old adolescents.

METHOD

A total of 128 participants reporting any level of alcohol use during the previous 6 months and 87 participants reporting no use during this period completed intake questionnaires and interviews as well as an assessment of P300 electroencephalographic responses to novel stimuli recorded during two separate tasks.

RESULTS

In addition to differing in recent alcohol use, the groups differed in nicotine and cannabis use, risk-taking behavior and conduct disorder symptoms, and P300 amplitude inter-trial variability (ITV) across both tasks. Across all participants, P300 ITV was positively correlated with a family history of depression but not with a family history of alcohol dependence. There were no group differences in P300 amplitude averaged across trials.

CONCLUSIONS

Recent reports attributing brain volume or brain function differences to an effect of light-to-moderate alcohol use should be viewed with great caution. In the present analysis of brain function differences among substance-using adolescents, the group differences were small, complicated by many factors coinciding with or preceding alcohol use, and not reflected in a stable central tendency.

Temporal instability in brain activation: a novel paradigm for evaluating the maintenance of attention among substance dependent patients

RATIONALE

Prior studies have demonstrated statistically significant but subtle differences in brain function between patients with a history of substance dependence (SD) and control groups.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of the present study was to show that variability in brain activation over the trials of a cognitive task is more useful for revealing the putative impact of SD than analyses focusing on the amplitude of activation averaged over trials. The study also tested the additional contribution of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)-a prevalent comorbidity that promotes both an early onset and more severe course of SD.

METHODS

Two hundred eleven adults performed two selective attention tasks while P300 event-related electroencephalographic potentials were recorded. They were assigned to one of 3 mutually exclusive groups: no lifetime history of SD or ASPD (n = 67), a SD history but no ASPD (n = 68), or both SD and ASPD (n = 76).

RESULTS

The major finding was a statistically significant elevation of P300 amplitude inter-trial variability (ITV) in the SD plus ASPD group in comparison to the group with neither attribute. The elevation was detected during both selective attention tasks and most prominent at electrodes sites located over the frontal brain. There were no group differences in P300 amplitude averaged over trials.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude from these findings that the ITV of P300 amplitude is an efficient and sensitive biomarker of the maintenance of attention. It is valuable for revealing group differences associated with substance dependence and ASPD. It may ultimately be valuable for detecting improvements resulting from psychostimulant treatment or other interventions, including cognitive remediation.

P300 as a Potential Indicator in the Evaluation of Neurocognitive Disorders After Traumatic Brain Injury

Few objective indices can be used when evaluating neurocognitive disorders after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). P300 has been widely studied in mental disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and brain injury. Daily life ability and social function are key indices in the assessment of neurocognitive disorders after a TBI. The present study focused on the correlation between P300 and impairment of daily living activity and social function. We enrolled 234 patients with neurocognitive disorders after a TBI according to ICD-10 and 277 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers. The daily living activity and social function were assessed by the social disability screening schedule (SDSS) scale, activity of daily living (ADL) scale, and scale of personality change following a TBI. P300 was evoked by a visual oddball paradigm. The results showed that the scores of the ADL scale, SDSS scale, and scale of personality change in the patient group were significantly higher than those in the control group. The amplitudes of Fz, Cz, and Pz in the patient group were significantly lower than those in the control group and were negatively correlated with the scores of the ADL and SDSS scales. In conclusion, a lower P300 amplitude means a greater impairment of daily life ability and social function, which suggested more severity of neurocognitive disorders after a TBI. P300 could be a potential indicator in evaluating the severity of neurocognitive disorders after a TBI.

Neurobiology and the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology: progress toward ontogenetically informed and clinically useful nosology

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirical structural model of psychological symptoms formulated to improve the reliability and validity of clinical assessment. Neurobiology can inform assessments of early risk and intervention strategies, and the HiTOP model has greater potential to interface with neurobiological measures than traditional categorical diagnoses given its enhanced reliability. However, one complication is that observed biological correlates of clinical symptoms can reflect various factors, ranging from dispositional risk to consequences of psychopathology. In this paper, we argue that the HiTOP model provides an optimized framework for conducting research on the biological correlates of psychopathology from an ontogenetic perspective that distinguishes among indicators of liability, current symptoms, and consequences of illness. Through this approach, neurobiological research can contribute more effectively to identifying individuals at high dispositional risk, indexing treatment-related gains, and monitoring the consequences of mental illness, consistent with the aims of the HiTOP framework.


Evidence for Altered Neural Processing in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by difficulties in emotion regulation, self-identity disturbances, self-injurious behavior, and reduced inhibitory control. Event-related potential (ERP) studies have sought to reveal the neural correlates of cognitive distortions and behavioral alterations in BPD. The article presents an overview of the existing ERP literature pertaining to BPD and discusses whether any one of the electrophysiological findings could serve as a reliable and specific marker for BPD. In short, ERP studies investigating P300 tentatively suggest impaired inhibitory control. Moreover, reduced error- and feedback-related processing and impaired response inhibition seem to be associated with impulsivity and risk-taking behavior in BPD patients. However, these findings are not specific for BPD. Regarding emotional and self-referential information processing, individuals with BPD display heightened vigilance toward social threat impacting their cognitive performance in various social-cognitive tasks demonstrating alterations of early negative and late positive potentials. These multifaceted electrophysiological alterations may be attributed to dysfunctional activity and connectivity of frontal brain regions and the limbic system.

Toward a multimodal measurement model for the neurobehavioral trait of affiliative capacity

A growing body of research supports the value of a multimodal assessment approach, drawing on measures from different response modalities, for clarifying how core biobehavioral processes relate to various clinical problems and dimensions of psychopathology. Using data for 507 healthy adults, the current study was undertaken to integrate self-report and neurophysiological (brain potential) measures as a step toward a multimodal measurement model for the trait of affiliative capacity (AFF) - a biobehavioral construct relevant to adaptive and maladaptive social-interpersonal functioning. Individuals low in AFF exhibit a lack of interpersonal connectedness, deficient empathy, and an exploitative-aggressive social style that may be expressed transdiagnostically in antagonistic externalizing or distress psychopathology. Specific aims were to (1) integrate trait scale and brain potential indicators into a multimodal measure of AFF and (2) evaluate associations of this multimodal measure with criterion variables of different types. Results demonstrated (1) success in creating a multimodal measure of AFF from self-report and neural indicators, (2) effectiveness of this measure in predicting both clinical-diagnostic and neurophysiological criterion variables, and (3) transdiagnostic utility of the multimodal measure at both specific-disorder and broad symptom-dimension levels. Our findings further illustrate the value of psychoneurometric operationalizations of biobehavioral trait dimensions as referents for clarifying transdiagnostic relationships between biological systems variables and empirically defined dimensions of psychopathology.

Impaired Recent Verbal Memory in Pornography-Addicted Juvenile Subjects

We aimed to find the differences in memory capabilities between pornography-addicted and nonaddicted juveniles. We enrolled 30 juveniles (12-16 y) consisting of 15 pornography addiction and 15 nonaddiction subjects. We used Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) to measure verbal memory, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT) for visual memory, along with Trail Making Test A and B (TMT-A and TMT-B) for attention. We found a significant reduction in the RAVLT A6 result of the addiction group (nonaddiction vs addiction: 13.47 ± 2.00 vs 11.67 ± 2.44, MD = -1.80, p=0.04), but not in ROCFT or attention tests. Analysis in sex subgroups yielded no sex-specific difference. We concluded that pornography addiction may be associated with impaired recent verbal memory in juveniles, regardless of sex and without association to attention.

Target-related parietal P3 and medial frontal theta index the genetic risk for problematic substance use

Theoretical and empirical work suggests that problematic substance use (PSU) is associated with individual differences in prefrontal cortex activity. While research has strongly linked parietal P3 amplitude reduction (P3AR) to genetic risk for problematic substance use, few studies have tested whether prefrontal EEG measures are sensitive to this genetic liability. In addition to P3, oddball target detection tasks elicit medial frontal theta power, reflecting attentional allocation, and parietal delta, indexing decision making or stimulus-response link updating. Midfrontal theta and parietal delta may index neurocognitive processes relevant to PSU beyond P3AR. The present investigation examined the etiological relationship between PSU and P3, frontal theta, and parietal delta in a large twin sample (N = 754). EEG was recorded during a visual oddball task. Greater PSU was associated with reduced target P3 amplitude and midfrontal theta/parietal delta power, and increased mean reaction time and reaction time variability (RTV; indexing attentional fluctuations). P3, theta, and RTV, but not delta or mean RT, explained unique variance in PSU (R2  = 0.04). Twin biometric modeling indicated a genetic relationship between PSU and P3, theta, and RTV. Theta accounted for distinct genetic variance in PSU beyond P3 and RTV. Together, 23% of the total additive genetic variance in PSU was explained by the three endophenotypes. Results replicate P3AR as an endophenotype and provide support for additional behavioral (RTV) and neurophysiological (midfrontal theta) endophenotypes of PSU. Reduced theta and greater RTV may reflect variations in a prefrontal attentional network that confers genetic risk for substance use problems.

Reliability and validity of an internalizing symptom scale based on the adolescent and adult Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA)

BACKGROUND

The Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) is an interview that assesses psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses, including substance use disorders and anxiety and mood (i.e., internalizing) disorders. Although the SSAGA is widely used, there exists no overall internalizing characteristics scale based on items drawn from SSAGA's mood and anxiety disorder sections.

OBJECTIVES

To design and assess a SSAGA-based measurement instrument capturing the overall internalizing dimension that underlies more specific internalizing conditions.

METHODS

We developed, assessed, and characterized a new scale for measuring internalizing problematic characteristics derived from the SSAGA interview. All samples were drawn from the Collaborative Studies on the Genetics of Alcoholism, a prospective multi-site genetic study of families at high risk for alcohol use disorders. All participants taking part in the study between September 2005 and September 2017 were eligible (n = 904, 52.2% female).

RESULTS

The scale had adequate internal consistency (ordinal α = 0.85, 95% CI = [0.81, 0.89]). Construct validity was supported by its association with other measures of internalizing characteristics (Internalizing Scale from Achenbach Self Reports; Neuroticism Scale from the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Five-Factor Personality Inventory). Several indices of alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine misuse were also positively associated with Internalizing Scale scores.

CONCLUSIONS

The Internalizing Scale has very good psychometric properties and can be used in studies that incorporate the SSAGA interview to study the association between internalizing characteristics and problematic alcohol and other substance use. These associations can potentially be utilized to identify individuals at risk for substance problems and to design treatments targeting such individuals.

Changes in Resting EEG in Colombian Ex-combatants ith Antisocial Personality Disorder

INTRODUCTION

Although the social and economic consequences of Colombian internal conflicts mainly affected the civilian population, they also had other implications. The ex-combatants, the other side of the conflict, have been the subject of many studies that question their personality structures and antisocial features. Results suggest that ex-combatants usually have characteristics of an antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) that is related with their behaviour.

METHODS

Quantitative EEG (qEEG) was used to evaluate differences in cortical activity patterns between an ex-combatants group and a control group. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) was used to assess the presence of ASPD in the ex-combatants group, as well as the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies (DIGS) for other mental disorders classified in the DCI-10.

RESULTS

There are significant differences in psychopathy levels between groups, as well as in alpha-2 and beta waves, especially in left temporal and frontal areas for alpha-2 waves and left temporal-central regions for beta waves.

CONCLUSIONS

qEEG measurements allow spectral resting potential to be differentiated between groups that are related with features typically involved in antisocial personality disorder, and to correlate them with patterns in the questionnaires and clinical interview.

A review on EEG-based methods for screening and diagnosing alcohol use disorder

The screening test for alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients has been of subjective nature and could be misleading in particular cases such as a misreporting the actual quantity of alcohol intake. Although the neuroimaging modality such as electroencephalography (EEG) has shown promising research results in achieving objectivity during the screening and diagnosis of AUD patients. However, the translation of these findings for clinical applications has been largely understudied and hence less clear. This study advocates the use of EEG as a diagnostic and screening tool for AUD patients that may help the clinicians during clinical decision making. In this context, a comprehensive review on EEG-based methods is provided including related electrophysiological techniques reported in the literature. More specifically, the EEG abnormalities associated with the conditions of AUD patients are summarized. The aim is to explore the potentials of objective techniques involving quantities/features derived from resting EEG, event-related potentials or event-related oscillations data.

Dysfunctional Early Processing of Facial Expressions in Hazardous Drinkers: Evidence from an ERP Study

Chronic alcohol intoxication impairs multiple cognitive functions. According to the dual system model (DSM), the development of alcohol dependence (AD) involves the imbalance between the automatic-affective system and the reflective system. However, the cognitive functions of non-AD hazardous drinkers (HDs) remain unclear. The present study aimed to explore how the HDs process facial expressions differently from the healthy subjects. Sixteen HDs and seventeen control subjects (CSs) completed an emotional working memory (WM) task while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. We found that there was no significant group difference in behavioral performance between the two groups. In the ERP data, relative to the CSs, the HDs showed delayed latencies of P1 and N170. Moreover, the CSs showed significant differences between the amplitudes of neural/fear and disgust expressions while these differences were insignificant in the HDs. The current results suggest that the main deficits in the processing of facial expression in HDs existed in the early automatic-affective system instead of in the reflective system.

Brain-behavior relationships in externalizing: P3 amplitude reduction reflects deficient inhibitory control

The use of endophenotypes to classify individuals at risk for or suffering from psychopathology has been criticized for lacking specificity and predictive utility. This issue is apparent in research on externalizing, a heritable predisposition to disinhibitory psychopathology and personality traits. Numerous studies have shown that P3 amplitude reduction (P3AR) reliably reflects externalizing, implicating P3AR as a candidate endophenotype for externalizing psychopathology. However, this endophenotype has not been connected directly to a key deficit in executive function (e.g., inhibitory control) commonly related to externalizing. Using a modified oddball task in a sample (N=74) of at-risk adolescents and young adults, we examined the associations among externalizing, P3AR, and inhibitory control. We also examined the associations of P3AR and inhibitory control with frequency of real-world disinhibited behavior. Results indicated that externalizing related to P3AR, which in turn related to deficient inhibitory control. Additionally, there were both unique and interactive associations of P3 amplitude and inhibitory control with indicators of real-world behavior. These findings provide the first direct evidence that P3AR reflects deficits in inhibitory control, thus linking this externalizing-related endophenotype to a specific cognitive process. Moreover, the results highlight the value of considering psychobiological measures alongside behavioral measures for indexing risk for externalizing behavior and psychopathology.

Processing expected and unexpected uncertainty is modulated by fearless-dominance personality traits - An exploratory ERP study on feedback processing

Expectancy and certainty regarding an outcome are important factors during performance monitoring. However, the separate contributions of expected and unexpected uncertainty on different measures of performance monitoring, including feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P300 components, are not well established. The current study investigated their relationship to fearless-dominance, a personality construct described by high social potency and low anxiety. Accurately predicting environmental outcomes in certain and uncertain situations might be a prerequisite of social potency, therefore it may be associated with increased performance monitoring and its ERP correlates. Consequently, expected-uncertain and unexpected-uncertain feedback (by violating previously learned certain and expected feedback) was introduced in addition to expected-certain feedback in healthy individuals during a probabilistic gambling task. In both FRN and P300 components, difference waves were more pronounced for unexpected-uncertain and expected-uncertain compared to expected-certain feedback. Moreover, more fearless-dominant individuals showed diminished feedback processing specifically in expected-uncertain trials, but concurrently enhanced attentional processing in expected-certain trials. These findings indicate adaptive and situation-appropriate utilization of performance monitoring resources in individuals with more pronounced fearless-dominance personality traits. The results indicate that a precise differentiation of expected and unexpected uncertainty in fearless-dominant individuals is mandatory in order to better understand the underlying personality construct and related behavior.

Heritability and molecular-genetic basis of the P3 event-related brain potential: a genome-wide association study

P3 amplitude is a candidate endophenotype for disinhibitory psychopathology, psychosis, and other disorders. The present study is a comprehensive analysis of the behavioral- and molecular-genetic basis of P3 amplitude and a P3 genetic factor score in a large community sample (N = 4,211) of adolescent twins and their parents, genotyped for 527,829 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Biometric models indicated that as much as 65% of the variance in each measure was due to additive genes. All SNPs in aggregate accounted for approximately 40% to 50% of the heritable variance. However, analyses of individual SNPs did not yield any significant associations. Analyses of individual genes did not confirm previous associations between P3 amplitude and candidate genes but did yield a novel association with myelin expression factor 2 (MYEF2). Main effects of individual variants may be too small to be detected by GWAS without larger samples.

Longitudinal stability and predictive utility of the visual P3 response in adults with externalizing psychopathology

We determined whether time-domain P3 amplitude and time-frequency principal component (TF-PC) reductions could serve as stable and predictive developmental endophenotypes of externalizing psychopathology. Participants from the Minnesota Twin Family Study were assessed at age 17 and again at age 29 for lifetime externalizing (EXT) disorders. Comparisons of P3 amplitude and TF-PCs at delta and theta frequencies were made between EXT and unaffected comparison subjects. P3 amplitude and all five extracted TF-PCs were significantly reduced in those presenting lifetime EXT disorders at both ages 17 and 29 and showed substantial 12-year rank-order stability. P3 amplitude and delta TF-PCs measured at age 17 also predicted subsequent development of EXT by age 29, with every 1-microvolt decrease in age 17 amplitude associated with an approximately 5% increase in risk for an EXT diagnosis by age 29. Overall, results from this study further confirm that these P3-derived brain measures maintain their potential as putative EXT endophenotypes through the third decade of life.

Fifty psychological and psychiatric terms to avoid: a list of inaccurate, misleading, misused, ambiguous, and logically confused words and phrases

The goal of this article is to promote clear thinking and clear writing among students and teachers of psychological science by curbing terminological misinformation and confusion. To this end, we present a provisional list of 50 commonly used terms in psychology, psychiatry, and allied fields that should be avoided, or at most used sparingly and with explicit caveats. We provide corrective information for students, instructors, and researchers regarding these terms, which we organize for expository purposes into five categories: inaccurate or misleading terms, frequently misused terms, ambiguous terms, oxymorons, and pleonasms. For each term, we (a) explain why it is problematic, (b) delineate one or more examples of its misuse, and (c) when pertinent, offer recommendations for preferable terms. By being more judicious in their use of terminology, psychologists and psychiatrists can foster clearer thinking in their students and the field at large regarding mental phenomena.

Drinking beyond a lifetime: New and emerging insights into paternal alcohol exposure on subsequent generations

Alcohol-use disorder (AUD) is prevalent and associated with substantial socioeconomic costs. While heritability estimates of AUD are ∼50%, identifying specific gene variants associated with risk for AUD has proven challenging despite considerable investment. Emerging research into heritability of complex diseases has implicated transmission of epigenetic variants in the development of behavioral phenotypes, including drug preference and drug-induced behavior. Several recent rodent studies have specifically focused on paternal transmission of epigenetic variants, which is especially relevant because sires are not present for offspring rearing and changes to offspring phenotype are assumed to result from modifications to the sperm epigenome. While considerable interest in paternal transmission of epigenetic variants has emerged recently, paternal alcohol exposures have been studied for 30+ years with interesting behavioral and physiologic effects noted on offspring. However, only recently, with improvements in technology to identify epigenetic modifications in germ cells, has it been possible to identify mechanisms by which paternal ethanol exposure alters offspring behavior. This review presents an overview of epigenetic inheritance in the context of paternal ethanol exposure and suggests future studies to identify specific effects of paternal ethanol exposure on offspring behavior and response to ethanol.

Factors of psychopathy and electrocortical response to emotional pictures: Further evidence for a two-process theory

The Two-Process theory of psychopathy posits that distinct etiological mechanisms contribute to the condition: (a) a weakness in defensive (fear) reactivity related to affective-interpersonal features, and (b) impaired cognitive-executive functioning, marked by reductions in brain responses such as P3, related to impulsive-antisocial features. The current study examined relations between psychopathy factors and electrocortical response to emotional and neutral pictures in male offenders (N = 139) assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Impulsive-antisocial features of the PCL-R (Factor 2) were associated with reduced amplitude of earlier P3 brain response to pictures regardless of valence, whereas the affective-interpersonal dimension (Factor 1) was associated specifically with reductions in late positive potential response to aversive pictures. Findings provide further support for the Two-Process theory and add to a growing body of evidence linking the impulsive-antisocial facet of psychopathy to the broader construct of externalizing proneness. Findings are discussed in terms of current initiatives directed at incorporating neuroscientific concepts into psychopathology classification. (PsycINFO Database Record

Neurophysiological correlates of error monitoring and inhibitory processing in juvenile violent offenders

Performance monitoring is crucial for well-adapted behavior. Offenders typically have a pervasive repetition of harmful-impulsive behaviors, despite an awareness of the negative consequences of their actions. However, the link between performance monitoring and aggressive behavior in juvenile offenders has not been closely investigated. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate performance monitoring in juvenile non-psychopathic violent offenders compared with a well-matched control group. Two ERP components associated with error monitoring, error-related negativity (ERN) and error-positivity (Pe), and two components related to inhibitory processing, the stop-N2 and stop-P3 components, were evaluated using a combined flanker-stop-signal task. The results showed that the amplitudes of the ERN, the stop-N2, the stop-P3, and the standard P3 components were clearly reduced in the offenders group. Remarkably, no differences were observed for the Pe. At the behavioral level, slower stop-signal reaction times were identified for offenders, which indicated diminished inhibitory processing. The present results suggest that the monitoring of one's own behavior is affected in juvenile violent offenders. Specifically, we determined that different aspects of executive function were affected in the studied offenders, including error processing (reduced ERN) and response inhibition (reduced N2 and P3). However, error awareness and compensatory post-error adjustment processes (error correction) were unaffected. The current pattern of results highlights the role of performance monitoring in the acquisition and maintenance of externalizing harmful behavior that is frequently observed in juvenile offenders.

Psychopathic and externalizing offenders display dissociable dysfunctions when responding to facial affect

Despite similarity in their disinhibited behaviors, the cognitive-affective mechanisms that characterize psychopathy and externalizing are relatively distinct. One theoretical perspective suggests that psychopathy is associated with an early attention bottleneck that precludes the processing of contextual information, leading to a rigid goal-directed focus. Alternatively, externalizing may be associated with an overallocation of processing resources to motivationally salient information, which disrupts the use of cognitive control. In this study, male prisoners assessed on psychopathic and externalizing traits performed a new gaze detection task involving affective faces. As predicted, psychopathy but not externalizing was associated with superior performance on the gaze-detection task when the necessity of using contextual affect to regulate goal-directed behavior was minimized. Conversely, externalizing but not psychopathy was associated with increased errors on trials that required participants to use affective expressions, specifically fear, as a cue to inhibit dominant responses. These results have theoretical and applied significance for both psychopathic and externalizing forms of disinhibition. Recognition and utilization of facial affect are important for socialization and interpersonal interactions; therefore, any cognitive-affective processes that interrupt the fluency with which this information is processed may be important for understanding the underpinnings of disinhibition.

Event-related potentials in substance use disorders: a narrative review based on articles from 1984 to 2012

Mechanisms that mediate the transition from occasional, controlled, drug use to the impaired control that characterizes severe dependence are still a matter of investigation. The etiology of substance use disorders (SUDs) is complex, and in this context of complexity, the concept of "endophenotype," has gained extensive popularity in recent years. The main aim of endophenotypes is to provide a simpler, more proximal target to discover the biological underpinnings of a psychiatric syndrome. In this view, neurocognitive and neurophysiological impairments that suggest functional impairments associated with SUDs have been proposed as possible endophenotypes. Because of its large amplitude and relatively easy elicitation, the most studied of the cognitive brain event-related potentials (ERPs), the P300 component, has been proposed as one possible candidate. However, if a P300 amplitude alteration is a common finding in SUDs, it is also observable in other psychiatric afflictions, suggesting that the associations found may just reflect a common measure of brain dysfunction. On this basis, it has been proposed that a multivariate endophenotype, based on a weighted combination of electrophysiological features, may provide greater diagnostic classification power than any single endophenotype. The rationale for investigating multiple features is to show that combining them provides extra useful information that is not available in the individual features, leading ultimately to a multivariate phenotype.The aim of the present article is to outline the potential usefulness of this kind of "combined electrophysiological procedure" applied to SUDs. We present a review of ERP studies, combining data from people with SUD, family members, and normal control subjects, to verify whether the combination of 4ERPs (P50, MMN, P300, and N400) may produce profiles of cortical anomalies induced by different types of SUD (alcohol vs cocaine vs cannabis vs heroin).

The impact of cognitive control, incentives, and working memory load on the P3 responses of externalizing prisoners

The P3 amplitude reduction is one of the most common correlates of externalizing. However, few studies have used experimental manipulations designed to challenge different cognitive functions in order to clarify the processes that impact this reduction. To examine factors moderating P3 amplitude in trait externalizing, we administered an n-back task that manipulated cognitive control demands, working memory load, and incentives to a sample of male offenders. Offenders with high trait externalizing scores did not display a global reduction in P3 amplitude. Rather, the negative association between trait externalizing and P3 amplitude was specific to trials involving inhibition of a dominant response during infrequent stimuli, in the context of low working memory load, and incentives for performance. In addition, we discuss the potential implications of these findings for externalizing-related psychopathologies. The results complement and expand previous work on the process-level dysfunction contributing to externalizing-related deficits in P3.

P300 amplitude reduction is associated with early-onset and late-onset pathological substance use in a prospectively studied cohort of 14-year-old adolescents

P3 amplitude reduction (P3AR) is associated with risk for adolescent-onset pathological substance use (PSU). In this longitudinal study, data from over 1,100 adolescent twins were used to examine P3AR in relation to early adolescent onset PSU (i.e., by age 14), late adolescent onset PSU (i.e., ages 14-18), misuse of different classes of substances (PSU-nicotine, PSU-alcohol, PSU-illicit), degree of PSU comorbidity, and gender differences. P3 amplitude was recorded at age 14 from two midline electrodes during a visual oddball paradigm. PSU was defined as meeting criteria for any symptom of a substance use disorder assessed using semistructured clinical interviews. P3AR was associated with degree of drug class comorbidity, early adolescent onset PSU for all three substance classes, and late adolescent onset PSU for alcohol and illicit PSU. Gender differences in P3AR were not statistically significant. These findings provide further evidence that P3AR indexes a nonspecific diathesis for adolescent-onset PSU.

Association between P3 event-related potential amplitude and externalizing disorders: a time-domain and time-frequency investigation of 29-year-old adults

This study determined whether time-domain P3 amplitude and time-frequency principal component (TF-PC) reductions are present in adulthood (age 29) when participants have largely passed through the age of heaviest substance misuse. Participants were assessed from age 17 through 29 for lifetime externalizing (EXT) disorders. EEG comparisons from three topographic regions were examined for P3 amplitude and TF-PCs at delta and theta frequency ranges. Significant P3 amplitude reductions were found in those with EXT for both regional and site-Pz analyses, with stronger effects observed the greater the EXT comorbidity. Reductions were also observed in all eight TF-PCs extracted, with a delta component yielding frontal effects not apparent in the time domain. Overall, results suggest that these brain measures continue, at age 29, to provide effective indices of EXT that potentially tap a neural substrate related to behavioral disinhibition.

Evidence for a Heritable Brain Basis to Deviance-Promoting Deficits in Self-Control

PURPOSE

Classic criminological theories emphasize the role of impaired self-control in behavioral deviancy. Reduced amplitude of the P300 brain response is reliably observed in individuals with antisocial and substance-related problems, suggesting it may serve as a neurophysiological indicator of deficiencies in self-control that confer liability to deviancy.

METHODS

The current study evaluated the role of self-control capacity - operationalized by scores on a scale measure of trait disinhibition - in mediating the relationship between P300 brain response and behavioral deviancy in a sample of adult twins (N=419) assessed for symptoms of antisocial/addictive disorders and P300 brain response.

RESULTS

As predicted, greater disorder symptoms and higher trait disinhibition scores each predicted smaller P300 amplitude, and trait disinhibition mediated observed relations between antisocial/addictive disorders and P300 response. Further, twin modeling analyses revealed that trait disinhibition scores and disorder symptoms reflected a common genetic liability, and this genetic liability largely accounted for the observed phenotypic relationship between antisocial-addictive problems and P300 brain response.

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide further evidence that heritable weaknesses in self-control capacity confer liability to antisocial/addictive outcomes and that P300 brain response indexes this dispositional liability.

Differentiating psychopathy from general antisociality using the P3 as a psychophysiological correlate of attentional allocation

Recent studies have shown that while psychopathy and non-psychopathic antisociality overlap, they differ in the extent to which cognitive impairments are present. Specifically, psychopathy has been related to abnormal allocation of attention, a function that is traditionally believed to be indexed by event-related potentials (ERPs) of the P3-family. Previous research examining psychophysiological correlates of attention in psychopathic individuals has mainly focused on the parietally distributed P3b component to rare targets. In contrast, very little is known about the frontocentral P3a to infrequent novel events in psychopathy. Thus, findings on the P3 components in psychopathy are inconclusive, while results in non-psychopathic antisocial populations are clearer and point toward an inverse relationship between antisociality and P3 amplitudes. The present study adds to extant literature on the P3a and P3b in psychopathy by investigating component amplitudes in psychopathic offenders (N = 20), matched non-psychopathic offenders (N = 23) and healthy controls (N = 16). Also, it was assessed how well each offender group was able to differentially process rare novel and target events. The offender groups showed general amplitude reductions compared to healthy controls, but did not differ mutually on overall P3a/P3b amplitudes. However, the psychopathic group still exhibited normal neurophysiological differentiation when allocating attention to rare novel and target events, unlike the non-psychopathic sample. The results highlight differences between psychopathic and non-psychopathic offenders regarding the integrity of the neurocognitive processes driving attentional allocation, as well as the usefulness of alternative psychophysiological measures in differentiating psychopathy from general antisociality.

Associations of Cigarette Smoking and Polymorphisms in Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Catechol-O-Methyltransferase with Neurocognition in Alcohol Dependent Individuals during Early Abstinence

Chronic cigarette smoking and polymorphisms in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) are associated with neurocognition in normal controls and those with various neuropsychiatric conditions. The influence of BDNF and COMT on neurocognition in alcohol dependence is unclear. The primary goal of this report was to investigate the associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in BDNF Val66Met (rs6265) and COMT Val158Met (rs4680) with neurocognition in a treatment-seeking alcohol dependent cohort and determine if neurocognitive differences between non-smokers and smokers previously observed in this cohort persist when controlled for these functional SNPs. Genotyping was conducted on 70 primarily male treatment-seeking alcohol dependent participants (ALC) who completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery after 33 ± 9 days of monitored abstinence. After controlling for COMT and BDNF genotypes, smoking ALC performed significantly worse than non-smoking ALC on the domains of auditory-verbal and visuospatial learning and memory, cognitive efficiency, general intelligence, processing speed, and global neurocognition. In smoking ALC, greater number of years of smoking over lifetime was related to poorer performance on multiple domains after controlling for genotypes and alcohol consumption. In addition, COMT Met homozygotes were superior to Val homozygotes on measures of executive skills and showed trends for higher general intelligence and visuospatial skills, while COMT Val/Met heterozygotes showed significantly better general intelligence than Val homozygotes. COMT Val homozygotes performed better than heterozygotes on auditory-verbal memory. BDNF genotype was not related to any neurocognitive domain. The findings are consistent with studies in normal controls and neuropsychiatric cohorts that reported COMT Met carriers demonstrated better performance on measures of executive skills and general intelligence. Results also indicated that the poorer performance of smoking compared to non-smoking ALC across multiple neurocognitive domains was not mediated by COMT or BDNF genotype. Overall, the findings lend support to the expanding clinical movement to make smoking cessation programs available to smokers at the inception of treatment for alcohol/substance use disorders.

The association between p3 amplitude at age 11 and criminal offending at age 23

Reduced P3 amplitude to targets is an information-processing deficit associated with adult antisocial behavior and may reflect dysfunction of the temporal-parietal junction. This study aims to examine whether this deficit precedes criminal offending. From a birth cohort of 1,795 children, 73 individuals who become criminal offenders at age 23 and 123 noncriminal individuals were assessed on P3 amplitude. The two groups did not differ on gender, ethnicity, and social adversity. P3 amplitude was measured over the temporal-parietal junction during a visual continuous performance task at age 11, together with antisocial behavior. Criminal convictions were assessed at age 23. Reduced P3 amplitude at age 11 was associated with increased antisocial behavior at age 11. Criminal offenders showed significantly reduced P3 amplitudes to target stimuli compared to controls. Findings remained significant after controlling for antisocial behavior and hyperactivity at age 11 and alcoholism at age 23. P3 deficits at age 11 are associated with adult crime at age 23, suggesting that reduced P3 may be an early neurobiological marker for cognitive and affective processes subserved by the temporal-parietal junction that place a child at risk for adult crime.

Visual complexity attenuates emotional processing in psychopathy: implications for fear-potentiated startle deficits

A long-standing debate is the extent to which psychopathy is characterized by fundamental deficits in attention or emotion. We tested the hypothesis that the interplay of emotional and attentional systems is critical for understanding processing deficits in psychopathy. A group of 63 offenders were assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and fear-potentiated startle (FPS) reflexes were collected while participants viewed pictures selected to disentangle an existing confound between perceptual complexity and emotional content in the pictures typically used to study fear deficits in psychopathy. As predicted, picture complexity moderated the emotional processing deficits. Specifically, the affective-interpersonal features of psychopathy were associated with greater allocation of attentional resources to processing emotional stimuli at initial perception (visual N1), but only when the picture stimuli were visually complex. Despite this, results for the late positive potential indicated that emotional pictures were less attentionally engaging and held less motivational significance for individuals high in affective-interpersonal traits. This deficient negative emotional processing was observed later in their reduced defensive fear reactivity (FPS) to high-complexity unpleasant pictures. In contrast, the impulsive-antisocial features of psychopathy were associated with decreased sensitivity to picture complexity (visual N1) and were unrelated to emotional processing, as assessed by both ERPs and FPS. These findings are the first to demonstrate that picture complexity moderates FPS deficits, and they implicate the interplay of attention and emotional systems as deficient in psychopathy.

Exaggerated Attention Blink Response in Prisoners with Externalizing

The diverse phenotypic expressions of disinhibitory psychopathology are believed to reflect a common latent predisposing variable: externalizing. While deficiencies in executive functioning (i.e., cognitive/inhibitory control, working memory) and affective hyper-reactivity are commonly associated with externalizing, there is also evidence that externalizing is related to anomalous allocation of attention. In this study, we administered an attention blink task to a sample of male prisoners and assessed externalizing using the Impulsive-Antisociality scale (Benning, Patrick, Hicks, Blonigen, & Krueger, 2003). Individuals with high Impulsive-Antisociality displayed a significantly steeper attention blink (i.e., less accurate identification of a second target) than individuals with low Impulsive-Antisociality. Results provide new evidence that externalizers over-allocate attention to salient information and suggest a novel conceptualization of their disinhibitory psychopathology.

A comprehensive assessment of neurocognition in middle-aged chronic cigarette smokers

BACKGROUND

The majority of studies investigating the neurocognitive consequences of chronic smoking have been conducted with adults 60 years and older. Therefore, the scope of neurocognitive dysfunction associated with chronic cigarette smoking in middle age (i.e., 30-60 age range) has not been fully delineated.

METHODS

Twenty-seven (44±9 years of age; 4 females) non-smoking and 30 smoking (49±8 years of age; 4 females) participants completed a comprehensive neurocognitive battery and measures of fine motor dexterity and postural stability. All participants were free of biomedical or psychiatric conditions that may have influenced neurocognitive and motor function.

RESULTS

Smokers performed significantly worse than non-smokers on the following domains: auditory-verbal and visuospatial learning, visuospatial memory, cognitive efficiency, executive skills, general intelligence, processing speed, fine motor dexterity and postural stability. The differences between smokers and non-smokers evidenced moderate to strong effect sizes and were not mediated by age, education, vocational level, estimated verbal intelligence or alcohol consumption. In smokers, a greater number of lifetime years of smoking was related to poorer performance on measures of cognitive efficiency, processing speed and visuospatial skills.

CONCLUSIONS

Results from this middle-aged cohort replicated previous research and provides novel findings indicating that chronic smoking was associated with inferior performance on measures of general intelligence, visuospatial learning and memory and fine motor dexterity. Research that relates measures of neurobiological function/integrity to neurocognition is needed to better understand the mechanisms contributing to the poorer performance across multiple domains demonstrated by smokers.

Event-Related Oscillations in Alcoholism Research: A Review

Alcohol dependence is characterized as a multi-factorial disorder caused by a complex interaction between genetic and environmental liabilities across development. A variety of neurocognitive deficits/dysfunctions involving impairments in different brain regions and/or neural circuitries have been associated with chronic alcoholism, as well as with a predisposition to develop alcoholism. Several neurobiological and neurobehavioral approaches and methods of analyses have been used to understand the nature of these neurocognitive impairments/deficits in alcoholism. In the present review, we have examined relatively novel methods of analyses of the brain signals that are collectively referred to as event-related oscillations (EROs) and show promise to further our understanding of human brain dynamics while performing various tasks. These new measures of dynamic brain processes have exquisite temporal resolution and allow the study of neural networks underlying responses to sensory and cognitive events, thus providing a closer link to the physiology underlying them. Here, we have reviewed EROs in the study of alcoholism, their usefulness in understanding dynamical brain functions/dysfunctions associated with alcoholism as well as their utility as effective endophenotypes to identify and understand genes associated with both brain oscillations and alcoholism.

The P300 event-related brain potential as a neurobiological endophenotype for substance use disorders: a meta-analytic investigation

Endophenotypes are intermediate phenotypes on the putative causal pathway from genotype to phenotype and can aid in discovering the genetic etiology of a disorder. There are currently very few suitable endophenotypes available for substance use disorders (SUD). The amplitude of the P300 event-related brain potential is a possible candidate. The present study determined whether the P300 amplitude fulfils two fundamental criteria for an endophenotype: (1) an association with the disorder (disease marker), and (2) presence in unaffected biological relatives of those who have the disorder (vulnerability marker). For this purpose, two separate meta-analyses were performed. Meta-analysis 1 investigated the P300 amplitude in relation to SUD in 39 studies and Meta-analysis 2 investigated P300 amplitude in relation to a family history (FH+) of SUD in 35 studies. The findings indicate that a reduced P300 amplitude is significantly associated with SUD (d=0.51) and, though to a lesser extent, with a FH+ of SUD (d=0.28). As a disease maker, the association between reduced P300 amplitude and SUD is significantly larger for participants that were exclusively recruited from treatment facilities (d=0.67) than by other methods (i.e., community samples and family studies; d=0.45 and 0.32, respectively), and larger for abstinent SUD patients (d=0.71) than for current substance users (d=0.37). Furthermore, in contrast to FH+ males, a P300 amplitude reduction seems not to be present in FH+ females (d=-0.07). Taken together, these results suggest that P300 amplitude reduction can be both a useful disease and vulnerability marker and is a promising neurobiological endophenotype for SUD, though only in males. Implications and future directions are discussed.

All about the Money - External Performance Monitoring is Affected by Monetary, but Not by Socially Conveyed Feedback Cues in More Antisocial Individuals

This study investigated the relationship between feedback processing and antisocial personality traits measured by the PSSI questionnaire (Kuhl and Kazén, 1997) in a healthy undergraduate sample. While event-related potentials [feedback related negativity (FRN), P300] were recorded, participants encountered expected and unexpected feedback during a gambling task. As recent findings suggest learning problems and deficiencies during feedback processing in clinical populations of antisocial individuals, we performed two experiments with different healthy participants in which feedback about monetary gains or losses consisted either of social-emotional (facial emotion displays) or non-social cues (numerical stimuli). Since the FRN and P300 are both sensitive to different aspects of feedback processing we hypothesized that they might help to differentiate between individuals scoring high and low on an antisocial trait measure. In line with previous evidence FRN amplitudes were enhanced after negative and after unexpected feedback stimuli. Crucially, participants scoring high on antisocial traits displayed larger FRN amplitudes than those scoring low only in response to expected and unexpected negative numerical feedback, but not in response to social-emotional feedback - irrespective of expectancy. P300 amplitudes were not modulated by antisocial traits at all, but by subjective reward probabilities. The present findings indicate that individuals scoring high on antisociality attribute higher motivational salience to monetary compared to emotional-social feedback which is reflected in FRN amplitude enhancement. Contrary to recent findings, however, no processing deficiencies concerning social-emotional feedback stimuli were apparent in those individuals. This indicates that stimulus salience is an important aspect in learning and feedback processes in individuals with antisocial traits which has potential implications for therapeutic interventions in clinical populations.

N4 component responses to pre-pulse startle stimuli in young adults: relationship to alcohol dependence

Both physiological and behavioral studies provide evidence to suggest that deficits in frontal cortical control circuits may contribute to the risk for developing alcohol dependence. Event-related potential (ERP) and eye blink responses to startle and short delay prepulse-plus-startle stimuli, and psychiatric diagnoses were investigated in young adult (age 18-30 years) men (n=135) and women (n=205) Mexican Americans. Women displayed a significant increase in the amplitude of the eye blink response to both the startle and pre-pulse-plus-startle stimuli. None of the psychiatric diagnoses were associated with differences in eye blink responses. ERP responses to the startle and prepulse-plus startle stimuli included a negative polarity wave at approximately 400 ms that was of the highest amplitude in the frontal leads (N4S). Women were found to have significantly higher amplitude N4S responses than men. Participants with alcohol dependence demonstrated significantly less inhibition and more facilitation of the N4S component by the pre-pulse stimuli. This finding was not associated with a diagnosis of: any other drug dependence disorder (including nicotine), anxiety or affective disorder, or conduct/antisocial personality disorder. The present study suggests that gender and a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol dependence may selectively contribute to this frontal late wave electrophysiological response to prepulse-plus-startle stimuli.

Externalizing psychopathology and gain-loss feedback in a simulated gambling task: dissociable components of brain response revealed by time-frequency analysis

Externalizing is a broad construct that reflects propensity toward a variety of impulse control problems, including antisocial personality disorder and substance use disorders. Two event-related potential responses known to be reduced among individuals high in externalizing proneness are the P300, which reflects postperceptual processing of a stimulus, and the error-related negativity (ERN), which indexes performance monitoring based on endogenous representations. In the current study, the authors used a simulated gambling task to examine the relation between externalizing proneness and the feedback-related negativity (FRN), a brain response that indexes performance monitoring related to exogenous cues, which is thought to be highly related to the ERN. Time-frequency (TF) analysis was used to disentangle the FRN from the accompanying P300 response to feedback cues by parsing the overall feedback-locked potential into distinctive theta (4-7 Hz) and delta (<3 Hz) TF components. Whereas delta-P300 amplitude was reduced among individuals high in externalizing proneness, theta-FRN response was unrelated to externalizing. These findings suggest that in contrast with previously reported deficits in endogenously based performance monitoring (as indexed by the ERN), individuals prone to externalizing problems show intact monitoring of exogenous cues (as indexed by the FRN). The results also contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating that the P300 is attenuated across a broad range of task conditions in high-externalizing individuals.

Clarifying relations between dispositional aggression and brain potential response: overlapping and distinct contributions of impulsivity and stress reactivity

Impulsive-aggressive individuals exhibit deficits in amplitude of the P3 brain potential response, however, it remains unclear how separable dispositional traits account for this association. The current study sought to clarify the basis of this association by examining contributions of trait impulsiveness and stress reactivity to the observed relationship between dispositional aggression and amplitude of the P3 brain potential response in a visual novelty-oddball procedure. A significant negative association was found between aggressiveness and amplitude of P3 response to both target and novel stimuli over frontal-central scalp sites. Impulsivity showed a parallel inverse relationship with P3 amplitude, attributable to its overlap with dispositional aggression. In contrast, stress reactivity did not exhibit a zero-order association with P3 amplitude, but modestly predicted P3 in a positive direction after accounting for its overlap with aggression. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for individual difference variables and brain processes underlying impulsive-aggressive behavior.

P3a amplitude predicts successful treatment program completion in substance-dependent individuals

This study examined P3a amplitude as a direct predictor of treatment success for substance dependence. Participants were 35 adults (27 men, 8 women) undergoing treatment for substance dependence at an urban residential treatment facility between October 2005 and July 2007. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria were used to confirm substance dependence. P3a amplitude was significantly smaller for those who dropped out of treatment. Discriminant function analysis confirmed that P3a amplitude was a robust predictor of treatment completion, more sensitive than other measures including substance abuse severity. Implications for the interpretation of P3a amplitude as an index of executive function are discussed.

Operationalizing proneness to externalizing psychopathology as a multivariate psychophysiological phenotype

The externalizing dimension is viewed as a broad dispositional factor underlying risk for numerous disinhibitory disorders. Prior work has documented deficits in event-related brain potential (ERP) responses in individuals prone to externalizing problems. Here, we constructed a direct physiological index of externalizing vulnerability from three ERP indicators and evaluated its validity in relation to criterion measures in two distinct domains: psychometric and physiological. The index was derived from three ERP measures that covaried in their relations with externalizing proneness-the error-related negativity and two variants of the P3. Scores on this ERP composite predicted psychometric criterion variables and accounted for externalizing-related variance in P3 response from a separate task. These findings illustrate how a diagnostic construct can be operationalized as a composite (multivariate) psychophysiological variable (phenotype).

Measures of learning, memory and processing speed accurately predict smoking status in short-term abstinent treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent individuals

Aim: Chronic cigarette smoking appears to adversely affect several domains of neurocognition in those with alcohol use disorders (AUDs). The primary goal of this study was to identify which measures commonly used to assess neurocognition in AUDs accurately predict smoking status of individuals seeking treatment of alcohol dependence. Methods: Treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent participants (ALC; n = 92) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery after 33 ± 9 days of abstinence. Measures significantly different between smoking and non-smoking ALC were entered as predictors in binary logistic regression and discriminant analysis models, with smoking status as the dependent variable. Results: Smoking ALC performed significantly worse than non-smoking ALC on measures assessing processing speed, auditory–verbal and visuospatial learning and memory. Using these measures as predictors, a logistic regression model accurately classified 91% of smokers and non-smokers into their respective groups overall and accounted for 68% of the variance in smoking status. The discriminant analysis confirmed the findings from the logistic regression. In smoking ALC, smoking chronicity was inversely related to performance on multiple measures after controlling for lifetime alcohol consumption. Conclusions: Measures of processing speed, learning and memory robustly predicted the smoking status of ALC with high sensitivity and specificity during early abstinence. The results identified specific measures within a comprehensive neurocognitive battery that discriminated smoking and non-smoking alcohol-dependent individuals with a high sensitivity and specificity. The association of greater smoking chronicity and poorer performance on multiple measures after control for alcohol consumption suggests that chronic smoking adds an additional burden to neurocognitive function in those with alcohol dependence.

Neural circuitry associated with risk for alcohol use disorders

The core features of risk for alcohol use disorders (AUD), including behavioral disinhibition, affective dysregulation, and executive dysfunction, map onto distinct neural circuits that have been found to be abnormal in the offspring of alcohol dependent individuals. Components of the cerebellothalamocortical system and the extended limbic network may provide the underpinnings for the behavioral and emotional dysfunction observed in individuals at heightened risk for AUD. In addition, abnormalities in these structures appear to be altered in individuals with the predisposition for other psychiatric conditions that may share a similar genetic diathesis. This review proposes several neurobehavioral mechanisms of genetic vulnerability that may account for phenotypic characteristics in individuals at risk for AUD.