Binge Drinking, Cognitive Performance and Mood in a Population of Young Social Drinkers

The Continuing Challenges of Studying Parallel Behaviours in Humans and Animal Models

The use of animal models continues to be essential for carrying out research into clinical phenomena, including addiction. However, the complexity of the clinical condition inevitably means that even the best animal models are inadequate, and this may go some way to account for the apparent failures of discoveries from animal models, including the identification of potential novel therapies, to translate to the clinic. We argue here that it is overambitious and misguided in the first place to attempt to model complex, multifacetted human disorders such as addiction in animals, and especially in rodents, and that all too frequently "validity" of such models is limited to superficial similarities, referred to as "face validity", that reflect quite different underlying phenomena and biological processes from the clinical situation. Instead, a more profitable approach is to identify (a) well-defined intermediate human behavioural phenotypes that reflect defined, limited aspects of, or contributors to, the human clinical disorder, and (b) to develop animal models that are homologous with those discrete human behavioural phenotypes in terms of psychological processes, and underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Examples of past and continuing weaknesses and suggestions for more limited approaches that may allow better homology between the test animal and human condition are made.

The dual nature of working memory deficits: methamphetamine abusers have more impaired social working memory capacity than canonical working memory capacity

Social working memory (WM) temporarily retains and manipulates various aspects of social information. Extensive research has highlighted impaired social cognitive functions in individuals with substance addiction. However, the specific deficit in social WM within this population remains notably understudied. Bridging this gap, we investigated social WM capacity using biological motion (BM) stimuli in methamphetamine (MA) abusers compared to an inmate control group, alongside contrasting these findings with their canonical WM deficits. Across two studies, we recruited female MA abusers (N = 80) undergoing post-isolation rehabilitation within a mandatory confinement circumstance. To ensure a pertinent comparison, we recruited female inmates (N = 80) subjected to comparable confinement. Results show substantial BM WM impairment in MA abusers, yet non-BM WM remains mostly intact. These findings highlight a pronounced social WM deficit in MA abusers, surpassing their canonical WM deficit relative to inmate controls. This suggests a distinct dissociation between social and canonical WM processing.

Adolescent alcohol binge drinking and withdrawal: behavioural, brain GFAP-positive astrocytes and acute methamphetamine effects in adult female rats

RATIONALE

Alcopop beverages are generally the first alcoholic beverage that young females drink which contain high levels of sugar and alcohol. The over-consumption of these drinks may encourage alcohol co-administration with methamphetamine (METH) impacting on drinking behaviour and glial function.

AIMS

The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of adolescent binge alcohol exposure on consumption level, anxiety-like behaviour, cross-sensitization with METH and on astrocyte expression in reward related brain regions.

METHODS

Adolescent female Sprague-Dawley rats had daily 1-hour oral alcohol consumption of alcopop (ALCP; with sucrose) or ethanol-only (ETOH; without sucrose), transitioned from 5 to 15% (v/v) ethanol content for 34 days. Water and sucrose groups act as controls. During alcohol withdrawal, rats were tested for anxiety on the elevated plus maze (EPM) and locomotor activity following saline or METH (1 mg/kg i.p) treatment. Brains were then collected to assess astrocyte immunofluorescence for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in reward-related brain regions.

RESULTS

Rats pretreated with 5% ALCP consumed significantly more volume and ethanol intake when compared to 5% EtOH rats. Both ALCP and EtOH groups had a higher preference ratio for 5% than 15% alcohol solutions and ALCP rats had greater ethanol intake at 15% than EtOH rats. Alcohol withdrawal showed no significant differences between groups on anxiety, METH cross-sensitization effects or GFAP intensity in the regions studied.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the addition of sucrose to alcoholic solutions encouraged female rats to consume larger volumes and greater ethanol intake compared to ethanol-only solutions, yet did not have long lasting effects on behaviour and astrocytes.

Adolescent alcohol drinking interaction with the gut microbiome: implications for adult alcohol use disorder

Reciprocal communication between the gut microbiota and the brain, commonly referred to as the "gut-brain-axis" is crucial in maintaining overall physiological homeostasis. Gut microbiota development and brain maturation (neuronal connectivity and plasticity) appear to be synchronized and to follow the same timeline during childhood (immature), adolescence (expansion) and adulthood (completion). It is important to note that the mesolimbic reward circuitry develops early on, whereas the maturation of the inhibitory frontal cortical neurons is delayed. This imbalance can lead to increased acquirement of reward-seeking and risk-taking behaviors during adolescence, and consequently eventuate in heightened risk for substance abuse. Thus, there is high initiation of alcohol drinking in early adolescence that significantly increases the risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in adulthood. The underlying causes for heightened AUD risk are not well understood. It is suggested that alcohol-associated gut microbiota impairment during adolescence plays a key role in AUD neurodevelopment in adulthood. Furthermore, alcohol-induced dysregulation of microglia, either directly or indirectly through interaction with gut microbiota, may be a critical neuroinflammatory pathway leading to neurodevelopmental impairments and AUD. In this review article, we highlight the influence of adolescent alcohol drinking on gut microbiota, gut-brain axis and microglia, and eventual manifestation of AUD. Furthermore, novel therapeutic interventions via gut microbiota manipulations are discussed briefly.

A prevention program for binge drinking among students based on mindfulness and implementation intention (ALCOMEDIIT): a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

The emergence of new problematic alcohol consumption practices among young people requires new dynamics in prevention strategies. In this context, the ADUC project (Alcohol and Drugs at the University of Caen) aims to develop a better understanding of alcohol consumption, and in particular the practice of binge drinking (BD) in students, in order to develop relevant and adapted prevention tools. The ALCOMEDIIT study (Rin Normandie and IRESP funding; Agreement 20II31-00 - ADUC part 3) is a randomized controlled trial that focuses on the specific determinant of impulsivity. The main objective of this experiment is to assess a program for the prevention of BD practices based on motivational interviewing (MI) associated with implementation intention (II) and mindfulness meditation (MBM) in a student environment.

METHODS

This study will include 170 healthy subjects who will be students at the university, alcohol users, with a BD score > 1 in the month preceding the inclusion but not presenting any specific disorder. The trial will be proposed by e-mail and students who meet the inclusion criteria will join either a control group which will benefit from a MI or an experimental group which will additionally benefit from an initiation to MBM with II (initial visit T0). In order to measure the effectiveness of the prevention program in terms of BD decrease, a follow-up at 1 month (T1) as well as a follow-up at 6 months (T6; exploratory) will be proposed to all participants. The total duration of this research protocol is 21 months.

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the interest of associating mindfulness meditation practices and implementation of self-regulation strategies to optimize their use, with a motivational interview in an innovative prevention program aiming at reducing alcohol use and BD practice in the student population.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05565989, September 30, 2022. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05565989 Protocol version 2.0 (September 2022) No.

ID-RCB

2022-A00983-40.

Sex, executive function, and prospective memory regulate the chain-mediation pathway of alcohol use and impulsivity

Objective

Evidence from previous studies indicates that impulsive behaviors are closely linked to alcohol use and misuse and that female drinkers are more impulsive than male drinkers. However, studies investigating the psychological mechanisms of alcohol use and impulsivity based on sex differences are relatively limited.

Methods

This cross-sectional study comprised 713 residents from 16 cities in Anhui Province, China. Each subject was evaluated for self-reporting measures using several questionnaires, including the general information questionnaire, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRM), the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A), and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11).

Results

Executive function and prospective memory may serve as intermediary links between alcohol use and impulsivity. Although the female alcohol usage level was significantly lower than that of males, the female drinkers had more severe executive dysfunction, prospective memory impairment, and impulsivity than male drinkers. Sex moderated the relationship between alcohol use and impulsivity. Furthermore, the indirect effect of executive function, and prospective memory between AUDIT and BIS was more significant in males than in females.

Conclusion

Alcohol consumption may be associated with impulsivity formation through executive dysfunction and PM impairment, implying that impulsivity in those with AUD or at risk for AUD might be treated by improving EF and PM. Alcohol use may cause more severe executive dysfunction, PM impairment, and impulsive behavior in females than in males, and impulsive behavior in women with AUD was more likely to be due to the direct effects of alcohol consumption, while impulsive behavior in men with AUD was more likely to be due to the indirect effects of executive dysfunction and PM impairment. These findings provide both clinical and theoretical foundations for addressing issues related to alcohol use.

Neurotoxicology of alcohol: a bibliometric and science mapping analysis

Alcohol consumption is common in many societies and has increased considerably, resulting in many socioeconomic and public health problems. In this sense, studies have been carried out in order to understand the mechanisms involved in alcohol consumption and related harmful effects. This study aimed to identify and map the knowledge and to perform bibliometric analysis of the neurotoxicology of alcohol based on the 100 most cited articles. A search was carried out in the Web of Science Core Collection database and information was extracted regarding the journal, authors, keywords, year of publication, number of citations, country and continent of the corresponding author. For each selected manuscript, the study design, alcohol exposure model, dose, period of exposure, and effect on the central nervous system and research hotspots were mapped. The journal with the highest number of publications was Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (n = 11 papers), the author who contributed the most was Crews FT (n = 8 papers), the studies had a total of 288 keywords and 75% of the publications were from the United States of America. The experimental studies evaluated the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure and were conducted in rats and mice using doses ranging from 2.5 to 14 g/kg/day, with administration by subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, intragastric, or inhalation route or with free access through drinking bottles. Among the studies mapped, the oldest one (1989) aimed to understand the systemic damage and mechanisms of action involved, while the most recent focused on understanding the receptors and mechanisms involved in addiction, as well as genetic factors. Our results show the panorama of the most widespread scientific production in the scientific community on the neurotoxicology of ethanol, a high prevalence was observed in studies that addressed fetal alcohol syndrome and/or the effects of ethanol on neurodevelopment.

A new statistical model for binge drinking pattern classification in college-student populations

Background

Binge drinking (BD) among students is a frequent alcohol consumption pattern that produces adverse consequences. A widely discussed difficulty in the scientific community is defining and characterizing BD patterns. This study aimed to find homogenous drinking groups and then provide a new tool, based on a model that includes several key factors of BD, to assess the severity of BD regardless of the individual's gender.

Methods

Using the learning sample (N1 = 1,271), a K-means clustering algorithm and a partial proportional odds model (PPOM) were used to isolate drinking and behavioral key factors, create homogenous groups of drinkers, and estimate the probability of belonging to these groups. Robustness of our findings were evaluated with Two validations samples (N2 = 2,310, N3 = 120) of French university students (aged 18-25 years) were anonymously investigated via demographic and alcohol consumption questionnaires (AUDIT, AUQ, Alcohol Purchase Task for behavioral economic indices).

Results

The K-means revealed four homogeneous groups, based on drinking profiles: low-risk, hazardous, binge, and high-intensity BD. The PPOM generated the probability of each participant, self-identified as either male or female, to belong to one of these groups. Our results were confirmed in two validation samples, and we observed differences between the 4 drinking groups in terms of consumption consequences and behavioral economic demand indices.

Conclusion

Our model reveals a progressive severity in the drinking pattern and its consequences and may better characterize binge drinking among university student samples. This model provides a new tool for assessing the severity of binge drinking and illustrates that frequency of drinking behavior and particularly drunkenness are central features of a binge drinking model.

Tell me how you feel, I will tell you what you look at: Impact of mood and craving on alcohol attentional bias in binge drinking

BACKGROUND

Alcohol-related attentional bias (AB) is thought to play a key role in the emergence and maintenance of excessive alcohol use. Recent models suggest that AB, classically considered as a permanent feature in alcohol use disorders, is rather modulated by temporary motivational states.

AIMS

We explored the influence of current mood and craving on AB in binge drinking, through a mood induction procedure combined with eye-tracking measures of AB.

METHODS

In Experiment 1, we measured AB (visual probe task with eye-tracking measures) among binge drinkers (n = 48) and light drinkers (n = 32) following positive, negative and neutral mood inductions. Participants reported subjective craving and mood before/after induction. In Experiment 2, we measured AB among the same binge drinkers compared with 29 moderate drinkers following alcohol-related negative, non-alcohol-related negative and neutral mood inductions.

RESULTS

In Experiment 1, induced negative mood and group positively predicted subjective craving, which was positively associated with AB. We found no effect of induced positive mood nor a direct mood-AB association. In Experiment 2, the relationships AB presented with both induced negative mood and group were again mediated by craving. Inducing alcohol-related negative mood did not modify the mood-craving association.

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol-related AB is not a stable binge drinking characteristic but rather varies according to transient motivational (i.e., craving) and emotional (i.e., negative mood) states. This study provides important insights to better understand AB in subclinical populations and emphasizes the importance of considering motivational and affective states as intercorrelated, to offer multiple ways to reduce excessive alcohol use.

Does alcohol automatically capture drinkers' attention? Exploration through an eye-tracking saccadic choice task

RATIONALE

Dominant theoretical models postulate the presence of an automatic attentional bias (AB) towards alcohol-related stimuli in alcohol use disorder, such AB constituting a core feature of this disorder. An early alcohol AB has been documented in subclinical populations such as binge drinking (i.e., a drinking pattern prevalent in youth and characterized by repeated alternation between alcohol intoxications and withdrawals, generating cerebral consequences). However, the automatic nature of AB remains to be established.

OBJECTIVES

We investigated the automatic nature of AB in binge drinkers through the saccadic choice task. This eye-tracking paradigm consistently highlights the extremely fast and involuntary saccadic responses elicited by faces in humans, relative to other object categories. Through an alcohol-related adaptation of the saccadic choice task, we tested whether the early and automatic capture of attentional resources elicited by faces can also be found for alcohol-related stimuli in binge drinkers, as predicted by theoretical models.

METHODS

Forty-three binge drinkers and 44 control participants performed two versions of the saccadic choice task. In the original version, two images (a face, a vehicle) were displayed on the left and right side of the screen respectively. Participants had to perform a saccade as fast as possible towards the target stimulus (either face or vehicle). In the alcohol-related version, the task was identical, but the images were an alcoholic beverage and a non-alcoholic stimulus.

RESULTS

We replicated the automatic attraction towards faces in both groups, as faces generated higher saccadic accuracy, speed, and amplitude than vehicles, as well as higher corrective saccade proportion. Concerning the alcohol-related adaptation of the task, groups did not differ for the accuracy, speed, and amplitude of the first saccade towards alcohol. However, binge drinkers differed from controls regarding the proportion of corrective saccade towards non-alcoholic stimuli after an error saccade towards alcohol, suggesting the presence of an alcohol disengagement bias specific to binge drinkers.

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol-related AB in binge drinkers is not characterized by an early and automatic hijacking of attention towards alcohol. This AB rather relies on later and more controlled processing stages, namely a difficulty to disengage attentional resources from alcohol-related stimuli.

The role of left insula mediating impaired error processing in response inhibition in adult heavy drinkers

Identification of neurobiological mechanisms underlying development of alcohol use disorder is critical to ensuring the appropriate early-phase treatment and prevention of the disorder. To this aim, we tried to elucidate the disturbance of neural functions in heavy drinking, which can lead to alcohol use disorder. Because response inhibition is affected by alcohol use disorder, we examined neural activation and task performance for response inhibition using the Go/No-Go task in an fMRI paradigm in adult non-dependent heavy and light drinkers. We examined the neural activation for error processing and inhibitory control, components of response inhibition. We then investigated the mediating effect of the relevant neural substrate on the relationship between the level of alcohol drinking and task performance using mediation analysis. We found that heavy drinking significantly decreased activation in the left insula during error processing and increased the mean commission error rate for No-Go trials compared with light drinking. Mediation analysis demonstrated full mediation of the left insula activation during error processing for the relationship between drinking level and commission error rate. Our results suggested that left insula activation may be a neural marker pivotal for potential conversion to alcohol use disorder in individuals with high clinical risk such as heavy drinking.

Diet and lifestyle factors associated with cognitive performance in college students

ObjectiveEngaging in a healthy diet and positive lifestyle behaviors have been shown to improve cognitive functioning in children and older adults, however, few have examined these factors in college-aged students. Participants: A diverse sample of 115 college students were recruited on two university campuses. Method: Completed computerized cognitive testing and an online survey about diet and lifestyle behaviors. Results: All analyses were conducted with Pearson's correlations. Higher fruit consumption was correlated with better visual memory scores. Higher seafood consumption was correlated with better learning performance. Increased fast food consumption was correlated with poorer executive functioning in resident students and poorer visual memory performance in commuter students. Increased fluid intake on testing day was correlated with better visual memory and better verbal memory performance. Conclusions: Behavioral changes such as increasing hydration, eating more fruit and fish, and eating less fast food may improve cognitive performance in college students.

Forgetting Alcohol: A Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating Memory Inhibition Training in Young Binge Drinkers

Background

Binge Drinking (BD) has been associated with altered inhibitory control and augmented alcohol-cue reactivity. Memory inhibition (MI), the ability to voluntarily suppress unwanted thoughts/memories, may lead to forgetting of memories in several psychiatric conditions. However, despite its potential clinical implications, no study to date has explored the MI abilities in populations with substance misuse, such as binge drinkers (BDs).

Method

This study—registered in the NIH Clinical Trials Database (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05237414)—aims firstly to examine the behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of MI among college BDs. For this purpose, 45 BDs and 45 age-matched non/low-drinkers (50% female) will be assessed by EEG while performing the Think/No-Think Alcohol task, a paradigm that evaluates alcohol-related MI. Additionally, this work aims to evaluate an alcohol-specific MI intervention protocol using cognitive training (CT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) while its effects on behavioral and EEG outcomes are assessed. BDs will be randomly assigned to one MI training group: combined [CT and verum tDCS applied over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)], cognitive (CT and sham tDCS), or control (sham CT and sham tDCS). Training will occur in three consecutive days, in three sessions. MI will be re-assessed in BDs through a post-training EEG assessment. Alcohol use and craving will be measured at the first EEG assessment, and both 10-days and 3-months post-training. In addition, behavioral and EEG data will be collected during the performance of an alcohol cue reactivity (ACR) task, which evaluates attentional bias toward alcoholic stimuli, before, and after the MI training sessions.

Discussion

This study protocol will provide the first behavioral and neurofunctional MI assessment in BDs. Along with poor MI abilities, BDs are expected to show alterations in event-related potentials and functional connectivity patterns associated with MI. Results should also demonstrate the effectiveness of the protocol, with BDs exhibiting an improved capacity to suppress alcohol-related memories after both combined and cognitive training, along with a reduction in alcohol use and craving in the short/medium-term. Collectively, these findings might have major implications for the understanding and treatment of alcohol misuse.

Clinical Trial Registration

[www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05237414].

Attentional bias in alcohol drinkers: A systematic review of its link with consumption variables

In severe alcohol use disorder (SAUD), attentional bias refers to the preferential allocation of attentional resources toward alcohol-related cues. Dominant models consider that this bias plays a key role in the emergence and maintenance of SAUD. We evaluate the available experimental support for this assumption through a systematic literature review, providing a critical synthesis of studies exploring the links between alcohol consumption and attentional bias. Using PRISMA guidelines, we explored three databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus) and extracted 95 papers. We assessed their methodological quality and categorized them based on the population targeted, namely patients with SAUD or subclinical populations with various drinking patterns. We also classified papers according to the measures used (i.e., behavioral or eye-tracking measures). Overall, subclinical populations present an alcohol-related bias, but many studies in SAUD did not find such bias, nor approach/avoidance patterns. Moreover, attentional bias fluctuates alongside motivational states rather than according to alcohol use severity, which questions its stability. We provide recommendations to develop further theoretical knowledge and overcome methodological shortcomings.

Neuropsychological Profile of College Students Who Engage in Binge Drinking

This study investigated the neuropsychological profile of college students who engage in binge drinking (BD) using comprehensive neuropsychological tests evaluating verbal/non-verbal memory, executive functions, and attention. Groups were determined based on scores on the Korean version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-K) and Alcohol Use Questionnaire (AUQ). There were 79 and 81 participants in the BD and non-BD groups, respectively. We administered the Korean version of the California Verbal Learning Test (K-CVLT) and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT) to evaluate verbal and non-verbal memory, respectively, and measured executive functions using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trail-Making Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test and Stroop Color-Word Test. We administered the d2 test to evaluate attention. Neuropsychological performance was analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance. The BD group showed significantly poorer performance in the long-term free recall condition of the K-CVLT and delayed recall condition of the RCFT and completed significantly fewer categories on the WCST than the non-BD group. In addition, there were significant negative associations among the AUDIT-K total score, AUQ binge score, and long-term free recall score of the K-CVLT. There were significant negative associations between the total AUDIT-K score and delayed recall RCFT score, and between the total AUDIT-K total score and numbers of completed categories on the WCST. These results indicate that college students who participate in BD have difficulties with verbal/non-verbal memory and executive functions, and further suggest that excessive alcohol use could have detrimental effects on the hippocampal-prefrontal circuit even with a relatively short period of alcohol use.

Consequences, Motives, and Expectancies of Consumption as Predictors of Binge Drinking in University Women

The increasing presence of women, especially university women, in risky alcohol consumption such as Binge Drinking (BD), which is associated with gender-specific biopsychosocial problems, makes it necessary to analyze the variables underlying BD in order to adjust possible interventions more in line with their reality. The motives and expectancies of this pattern of consumption, as well as the consequences derived from it, are some of the variables that are shown to have the greatest weight in the prediction of BD. In the present study we analyze, on the one hand, the performance of these variables among college women with alcohol use, and on the other hand, which of these variables allow us to classify BD. A total of 501 female university consumers of alcohol (mean age 19.02 years) were assessed. Specifically, they completed a self-report of alcohol consumption (77.1% engage in BD), the Expectancy Questionnaire (EQ), the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ-R) and the Alcohol Consumption Consequences Evaluation (ACCE). BD female students scored significantly higher on these instruments, except for compliance motives. The logistic regression analysis carried out to estimate the probability of performing BD using the social and conformity motives, the ACCE and positive expectancies correctly estimated (χ2 8 = 9.149, p < 0.33) 88.6% of the cases and explained 26.2% of the BD. Thus, young women with a level of consequences classified as high risk (>25 in ACCE) have a 3.55-fold increase in the probability of having BD, compared to women classified as low risk by the ACCE. On the other hand, women classified as moderate risk by the ACCE have a 4.77-fold increase in the probability of having BD. In the case of social motives and positive expectancies, their increase multiplies by 1.165 and 1.024, respectively, the probability of having BD. The results of this study highlight the importance of adapting preventive measures to the consequences experienced by BD university students, especially in relation to the social motives and positive expectancies that modulate decision-making when engaging in this pattern of consumption.

Expectancies and Motives as Predictors of Risky Alcohol Consumption in College Women

Despite the consequences of alcohol use, it continues showing a high incidence among college students. Besides, the increasing presence of women in risk alcohol patterns calls for a gender-sensitive approach to design specific actions. Some variables have been analyzed as underlying alcohol consumption (expectations and motives). This paper assesses the type and influence of both variables on female university alcohol consumers at different levels of risk. Five hundred four college women were assessed using the Spanish adaptations of the Expectancy Questionnaire, the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised, and the AUDIT. We determine the unique contributions of expectancies, motives, and the presence of binge drinking (BD) to the pattern of risky drinking. The percentage of variance explained by risky drinking is 37.7%. Negative expectancies (20.4%) are the most explanatory variables, followed by enhancement motives (10.4%). Interventions with university women should focus on their negative expectancies, in addition to addressing for improvement, coping with depression, and conformity motives.

The Relationship between Positive Memory Phenomenology and Alcohol Use among Trauma-Exposed Individuals

BACKGROUND

Evidence links positive memory characteristics and hazardous alcohol use (HAU). Relevant to the current study, evidence also indicates that trauma-exposed individuals, especially those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, report difficulties retrieving/accessing positive memories and report HAU.

OBJECTIVE

Considering this literature, we uniquely examined if and which positive memory characteristics were associated with HAU, and the potential mediating role of PTSD symptom severity in the examined relations.

METHODS

A sample of 126 trauma-exposed community participants seeking mental health treatment (Mage=34.97 years) completed measures of HAU (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), positive memory characteristics (Memory Experiences Questionnaire-Short Form [MEQ-SF]), and PTSD severity (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5). We conducted 8 hierarchical multiple regressions; Step 1 examined effects of gender and Step 2 added a single MEQ-SF dimension (specificity, valence, emotional intensity, sensory details, vividness, accessibility, coherence, sharing).

RESULTS

In Steps 1 (β=.27) and 2 (βs from .27-.28), gender was associated with HAU. In Step 2, positive memory characteristics of specificity (β=.17), sensory details (β=.17), sharing (β=.23), and valence (β=-.19) were associated with greater HAU. PTSD severity mediated relations between sensory details (β=.09, p=.048), emotional intensity (β=.12, p=.011), and sharing (β=.09, p=.036), and the extent of HAU.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Results that specificity, greater sharing, more sensory details, and higher negative valence of positive memories were associated with greater HAU offer potential points of intervention.

Role of Impulsivity and Emotion Dysregulation Dimensions on Core Characteristics of Binge Drinking among University Students

Binge drinking refers to a pattern of alcohol consumption that leads to rapid intoxication followed by withdrawal and abstinence periods. This study aimed to investigate the potential differential contributions of impulsivity and emotion regulation difficulties to core characteristics of binge drinking (consumption speed, frequency of binge drinking episodes, and the ratio of binge drinking episodes) among a sample of non-abstainers college students. One thousand and five hundred fifty-five participants (17-25 years old) completed the UPPS-P Impulsive behavior scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and measures related to alcohol consumption patterns and affects by means of an online survey. Multiple regression analyses showed that UPPS-P sensation seeking, lack of premeditation, positive, and negative urgency dimensions were significantly associated with binge drinking core characteristics. More specifically, lack of premeditation, and sensation seeking dimensions were associated with speed of drinking, frequency of binge drinking epiosodes, and the ratio of binge drinking episodes. Positive urgency was associated with speed of drinking, and the ratio of binge drinking episodes while negative urgency was negatively associated with speed of drinking. DERS impulse dimension was associated with speed of drinking, DERS awareness dimension was negatively associated with the frequency of binge drinking episodes, and DERS goals dimension was significantly associated with the ratio of binge drinking episodes. Furthermore, patterns of drinking were independently associated with sex, depression and anxiety scores. These findings may help to plan and develop interventions aimed at addressing binge drinking in young adults by targeting impulsivity and emotion dysregulation.

Addressing methodological issues in a study of impulsivity and vulnerability for transition to alcohol use disorder

BACKGROUND

Heightened behavioral impulsivity has been advocated as a preexisting risk factor for the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Nonetheless, studies investigating impulsivity in adolescent/young adult at-risk drinkers-who are at increased risk of developing AUD-report mixed findings. This may be due to methodological limitations related to definitions of at-risk drinking, the retrospective assessment of alcohol intake, and/or the relatively modest sample size of some studies.

METHODS

Healthy individuals (N = 814, M_age  = 22.50) completed online surveys and a measure of choice impulsivity. Of these, a number of participants also undertook an online measure of response inhibition (n = 627, M_age  = 22.66), and a further subgroup submitted real-time alcohol consumption information for a period of 21 days using an app (n = 543, M_age  = 22.96). Differences in behavioral impulsivity were assessed as a function of various at-risk alcohol intake categories. Hierarchical multiple regression was employed to determine whether impulsivity predicted alcohol use in the form of a continuous index comprising variables related to intake and consequences of use.

RESULTS

Significantly greater impulsivity was not evident in heavy, standard binge, high binge, harmful, or hazardous alcohol drinkers as compared to controls, regardless of the criteria employed to categorize these at-risk drinkers. Neither choice impulsivity nor reduced response inhibition significantly predicted the alcohol use index.

CONCLUSIONS

While results could be attributed to the online nature of this research, it is possible that more sensitive measures of behavioral impulsivity are required when assessing nondependent drinkers.

Characterization of a differential reinforcement of low rates of responding task in non-deprived male and female rats: Role of Sigma-1 receptors

Impulsive action can be defined as the inability to withhold a response and represents one of the dimensions of the broad construct impulsivity. Here, we characterized a modified differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL) task developed in our laboratory, in which impulsive action is measured in ad libitum fed/watered subjects. Specifically, we first determined the effects of both sex and estrous cycle on impulsive action by systematically comparing male and estrous-synchronized female subjects. In addition, we evaluated the convergent validity of this modified DRL task by testing the effects of the D2R/5HT2AR antagonist, aripiprazole, and the noncompetitive NMDAR antagonist, MK-801. Finally, we tested the effects of the selective antagonist BD-1063 and agonist PRE-084 of Sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R) on impulsive action using this modified DRL task. We found that female rats showed and increased inability to withhold a response when compared to males, and this effect was driven by the metestrus/diestrus phase of the estrous cycle. In addition, aripiprazole and MK-801 fully retained their capability to reduce and increase impulsive action, respectively. Finally, the selective Sig-1R antagonist, BD-1063 dose-dependently reduced the inability to withhold a response in both sexes, though more potently in female rats. In summary, we show that impulsive action, as measured in a modified DRL task which minimizes energy-homeostatic influences, is a function of both sex and estrous cycle. Furthermore, we validate the convergent validity of the task and provide evidence that Sig-1R antagonism may represent a novel pharmacological strategy to reduce impulsive action.

Primed for addiction: A critical review of the role of microglia in the neurodevelopmental consequences of adolescent alcohol drinking

Alcohol is one of the most widely used recreational substances worldwide, with drinking frequently initiated during adolescence. The developmental state of the adolescent brain makes it vulnerable to initiating alcohol use, often in high doses, and particularly susceptible to alcohol-induced brain changes. Microglia, the brain parenchymal macrophages, have been implicated in mediating some of these effects, though the role that these cells play in the progression from alcohol drinking to dependence remains unclear. Microglia are uniquely positioned to sense and respond to central nervous system insult, and are now understood to exhibit innate immune memory, or "priming," altering their future functional responses based on prior exposures. In alcohol use disorders (AUDs), the role of microglia is debated. Whereas microglial activation can be pathogenic, contributing to neuroinflammation, tissue damage, and behavioral changes, or protective, it can also engage protective functions, providing support and mediating the resolution of damage. Understanding the role of microglia in adolescent AUDs is complicated by the fact that microglia are thought to be involved in developmental processes such as synaptic refinement and myelination, which underlie the functional maturation of multiple brain systems in adolescence. Thus, the role microglia play in the impact of alcohol use in adolescence is likely multifaceted. Long-term sequelae may be due to a failure to recover from EtOH-induced tissue damage, altered neurodevelopmental trajectories, and/or persistent changes to microglial responsivity and function. Here, we review critically the literature surrounding the effects of alcohol on microglia in models of adolescent alcohol misuse. We attempt to disentangle what is known about microglia from other neuroimmune effectors, to which we apply recent discoveries on the role of microglia in development and plasticity. Considered altogether, these studies challenge assumptions that proinflammatory microglia drive addiction. Alcohol priming microglia and thereby perturbing their homeostatic roles in neurodevelopment, especially during critical periods of plasticity such as adolescence, may have more serious implications for the neuropathogenesis of AUDs in adolescents.

Effects of the COVID-19 Mitigation Measures on Alcohol Consumption and Binge Drinking in College Students: A Longitudinal Survey

To "flatten the curve" of COVID-19 contagion, several countries ordered lockdowns amid the pandemic along with indications on social distancing. These social isolation measures could potentially bring alterations to healthy behavior, including to alcohol consumption. However, there is hardly any scientific evidence of the impact of such measures on alcohol consumption and binge drinking (BD) among young adults, and how they relate to alcohol craving, stress, anxiety, and depression levels. We addressed these questions by conducting a longitudinal study with 146 Portuguese college students-regular binge drinkers (regular BDs), infrequent binge drinkers (infrequent BDs) and non-binge drinkers (non-BDs)-in three moments: before the pandemic (Pre-Lockdown), during lockdown (Lockdown) and 6 months after (Post-Lockdown). Results revealed that regular BDs decreased alcohol use during Lockdown, a change in behavior that was even greater during Post-Lockdown, when regular BDs displayed similar levels of consumption to infrequent/non-BDs. Additionally, alcohol craving and living with friends were predictive of alcohol use during Lockdown, whereas stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms did not contribute to explain changes in drinking behavior. Collectively, the results suggest that BD in young Portuguese college students can be stopped when the contexts in which alcohol intake usually takes place are suppressed, which may have important implications for future prevention and intervention strategies.

Shortening time for access to alcohol drives up front-loading behavior, bringing consumption in male rats to the level of females

Background

Incentives to promote drinking (“happy hour”) can encourage faster rates of alcohol consumption, especially in women. Sex differences in drinking dynamics may underlie differential health vulnerabilities relating to alcohol in women versus men. Herein, we used operant procedures to model the happy hour effect and gain insight into the alcohol drinking dynamics of male and female rats.

Methods

Adult male and female Wistar rats underwent operant training to promote voluntary drinking of 10% (w/v) alcohol (8 rats/sex). We tested how drinking patterns changed after manipulating the effort required for alcohol (fixed ratio, FR), as well as the length of time in which rats had access to alcohol (self-administration session length). Rats were tested twice within the 12 h of the dark cycle, first at 2 h (early phase of the dark cycle, “early sessions”) and then again at 10 h into the dark cycle (late phase of the dark cycle, “late sessions”) with an 8-h break between the two sessions in the home cage.

Results

Adult females consumed significantly more alcohol (g/kg) than males in the 30-min sessions with the FR1 schedule of reinforcement when tested late in the dark cycle. Front-loading of alcohol was the primary factor driving higher consumption in females. Changing the schedule of reinforcement from FR1 to FR3 reduced total consumption. Notably, this manipulation had minimal effect on front-loading behavior in females, whereas front-loading behavior was significantly reduced in males when more effort was required to access alcohol. Compressing drinking access to 15 min to model a happy hour drove up front-loading behavior, generating alcohol drinking patterns in males that were similar to patterns in females (faster drinking and higher intake).

Conclusions

This strategy could be useful for exploring sex differences in the neural mechanisms underlying alcohol drinking and related health vulnerabilities. Our findings also highlight the importance of the time of testing for detecting sex differences in drinking behavior.

Voluntary alcohol drinking is higher in adult female rats compared to adult male rats. This sex difference is most pronounced in the later phase of the dark cycle, and when the operant effort is minimal (when 1 lever press gives 1 reward: fixed ratio 1, FR1).

Higher alcohol intake in females is primarily due to “front-loading”, or the rapid consumption of alcohol within the first 5 min of access.

Increasing the effort required to obtain alcohol from FR1 to FR3 dampens front-loading drinking behavior, resulting in similar levels of total intake in males and females.

Compressing the time of access to 15 min drives up front-loading to such a degree that rats end up consuming more alcohol in total than they do in 30-min sessions. In males, this increase in drinking is large enough that it eliminates the sex difference in total alcohol intake.

Binge Drinking, Tobacco, and Marijuana Use Among Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors: A Longitudinal Study

Objectives: Substance use among young adult childhood cancer survivors (YACCSs) has been found to increase during survivorship, resulting in increased risk of developing long-term negative health outcomes. This investigation sought to determine various risk and protective factors of tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana use over time among a sample of YACCSs. Methods: 127 YACCSs (57% Hispanic, 55% female, average age at diagnosis 12.4 years) who were diagnosed with any cancer type (except Hodgkin lymphoma) at two large pediatric medical centers in Los Angeles County between 2000 and 2007 responded to two surveys separated by ∼5 years. Bivariate logistic regression models were used to assess independent clinical and psychosocial Time 1 variables associated with each substance use outcome at Time 2. Time 1 variables significant at p < .10 were included in multivariable logistic regression models for each Time 2 substance use variable. Results: Rates of 30-day use increased over time for binge drinking alcohol (from 25.6% to 37.7%), marijuana (from 10.6% to 22.1%), and cigarette/tobacco (from 8.9% to 12.2%). Of the following Time 1 variables, marijuana use, cigarette use, and binge drinking were associated with Time 2 marijuana, cigarette, and binge drinking, respectively. Of the following clinical factors, receipt of more intensive cancer treatment was associated with decreased tobacco use. All other psychosocial and clinical factors analyzed were not associated with any increase or decrease in substance use. Conclusions: A greater emphasis on early health education efforts regarding the health risks of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use is needed in this at-risk population.

Binge Drinking: The Top 100 Cited Papers

We conducted a review to analyze the 100 most-cited studies on binge drinking (BD) in the Web of Science (WoS) database to determine their current status and the aspects that require further attention. We carried out a retrospective bibliometric analysis in January 2021. The year of publication, authors, design, subject, journal, institution and lead author’s country, as well as the definition of BD, were extracted from the articles. The data on the country, year, thematic category of the journals and their rank were obtained from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Journal Citation Reports 2020. The number of citations was collected from the WoS, and the h index was collected from the Scopus database. The citation density and Bradford’s law were calculated. The majority of the articles were empirical quantitative studies with a cross-sectional design published between 1992 and 2013 in 49 journals. There were 306 authors, mostly English-speaking and from the USA. The definitions used to describe BD are not homogeneous. The most-cited topics were the analysis of consequences, determinants and epidemiology. There is a need to unify the definitions of BD and base them on scientific evidence. The multidisciplinary nature of BD is not well reflected in each of the thematic areas discussed in this work.

Alcohol intoxication, but not hangover, differentially impairs learning and automatization of complex motor response sequences

Behavioral automatization usually makes us more efficient and less error-prone, but may also foster dysfunctional behavior like alcohol abuse. Yet, it has remained unclear whether alcohol itself causes the shift from controlled to habitual behavior commonly observed in alcohol use disorder (AUD). We thus investigated how the acute and post-acute effects of binge drinking affect the automatization of motor response sequences and the execution of automated vs. controlled motor response sequences. N = 70 healthy young men performed a newly developed automatization paradigm once sober and once after binge drinking (half of them intoxicated and half of them hungover). While we found no significant effects of alcohol hangover, acute intoxication (~ 1.2 ‰) had two dissociable effects: Firstly, it impaired the automatization of complex motor response sequence execution. Secondly, it eliminated learning effects in response selection and pre-motor planning processes. The results suggest that alcohol hangover did not affect controlled or automated processes, and disprove the assumption that alcohol intoxication generally spares or facilitates motor response sequence automatization. As these effects could be specific to the investigated explicit learning context, acute intoxication might potentially still improve the execution of pre-existing automatisms and/or the implicit acquisition of motor response sequence automatisms.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Binge Drinking: Towards an Integrated Conceptualization and Evaluation

RATIONALE

Binge drinking (BD), characterized by recurring alternations between intense intoxication episodes and abstinence periods, is the most frequent alcohol consumption pattern in youth and is growing in prevalence among older adults. Many studies have underlined the specific harmful impact of this habit by showing impaired abilities in a wide range of cognitive functions among binge drinkers, as well as modifications of brain structure and function.

AIMS

Several controversies and inconsistencies currently hamper the harmonious development of the field and the recognition of BD as a specific alcohol consumption pattern. The main concern is the absence of consensual BD conceptualization, leading to variability in experimental group selection and alcohol consumption evaluation. The present paper aims at overcoming this key issue through a two-step approach.

METHODS AND CONCLUSIONS

First, a literature review allows proposing an integrated BD conceptualization, distinguishing it from other subclinical alcohol consumption patterns. Six specific characteristics of BD are identified, namely, (1) the presence of physiological symptoms related to BD episodes, (2) the presence of psychological symptoms related to BD episodes, (3) the ratio of BD episodes compared to all alcohol drinking occasions, (4) the frequency of BD episodes, (5) the consumption speed and (6) the alternation between BD episodes and soberness periods. Second, capitalizing on this conceptual clarification, we propose an evaluation protocol jointly measuring these six BD characteristics. Finally, several research perspectives are presented to refine the proposed conceptualization.

What is binge drinking? Insights from a network perspective

This study aimed to delineate the specific characteristics of binge drinking habits by capitalizing on data-driven network analysis. Such an approach allowed us to consider binge drinking as a network system of interacting elements, thus identifying the key variables involved in this phenomenon. A total of 1,455 university students with excessive drinking habits were included in this study. We assessed the most critical features of binge drinking (i.e., the consumption of more than six alcohol units per occasion, drunkenness frequency, consumption speed), together with alcohol use and more general alcohol-related components of dysfunction and harm. All variables were considered in the network analysis. Centrality analysis identified drunkenness frequency as the most influential variable in the entire network. Community detection analysis showed three distinct subnetworks related to alcohol use, drunkenness, and dysfunction/harm components. Drunkenness frequency and blackout occurrence emerged as core bridge items in the binge drinking network. Drunkenness is recognized as the hallmark feature of binge drinking.

Drinking frequency matters: links between consumption pattern and implicit/explicit attitudes towards alcohol

RATIONALE

Attitudes towards alcohol constitute a central factor to predict future consumption. Previous studies showed that young adults with risky alcohol consumption present positive implicit and explicit attitudes towards alcohol.

OBJECTIVES

It appears crucial to disentangle the relationship between specific consumption patterns (e.g., binge drinking or moderate daily drinking) and these alcohol-related attitudes.

METHODS

We compared implicit/explicit positive attitudes towards alcohol among 101 university students distributed in 4 groups [control low-drinking participants (CP), daily drinkers (DD), low binge drinkers (LBD), high binge drinkers (HBD)] differing regarding alcohol consumption profile, to explore the impact of consumption characteristics on alcohol-related attitudes. Participants performed a visual version of the Implicit Association Test (evaluating implicit attitudes towards alcohol), followed by self-reported measures of explicit alcohol-related attitudes and expectancies.

RESULTS

HBD and DD (but not LBD) presented stronger implicit positive attitudes towards alcohol than CP. All drinkers explicitly considered alcohol consumption as pleasant, but only DD qualified it as something good.

CONCLUSION

Beyond and above the quantity consumed and the presence of binge drinking habits, consumption frequency appears as a central factor associated with high implicit/explicit positive attitudes towards alcohol in young drinkers. This underlines the need to consider this factor not only in future studies exploring implicit/explicit attitudes but also in the development of prevention and intervention campaigns in youth.

[Technology-based interventions for alcohol prevention among children and adolescents]

BACKGROUND

Early onset and excessive alcohol use in childhood and adolescence is associated with an elevated risk of experiencing short-, mid-, and long-term negative consequences caused by, e.g., accidents, violent acts, and conflicts. Face-to-face prevention approaches show significant effects on the reduction of alcohol use. However, service utilization is often low among children and adolescents. Technology-based alcohol prevention has the potential to reach this target group with potentially cost-effective, standardized, and low-threshold measures.

AIM AND METHOD

This narrative review provides an overview of different approaches of technology-based interventions for the prevention and early intervention of risky alcohol use among children and adolescents, their effectiveness, and settings for implementation.

RESULTS

Technology-based alcohol prevention can be implemented in a variety of settings, e.g., school, community, primary care, or hospital. Implementation is often realized via websites with or without embedding face-to-face modules, apps, or SMS messages. While the cumulative evidence of the effectiveness of technology-based alcohol prevention is strong for adults and young adults, evidence for the effectiveness among children and adolescents is heterogeneous.

DISCUSSION

Technology-based alcohol prevention has great theoretical potential with regards to reach, cost-effectiveness, and user engagement. Study replications are needed and evaluations of the effects of single elements, such as the individualization of content, user engagement through multiple contacts, and the use of multimedia elements and functions, should be addressed by future research.

What really matters in binge drinking: A dominance analysis of binge drinking psychological determinants among University students

Introduction

Binge drinking (BD) is a public health concern, especially in young people. Multiple individual factors referring to different level of analyses - positional, inter-individual and intra-individual - are associated to BD. As they have mainly been explored separately, little is known about the psychological variables most associated with BD. This study, based on an integrative model considering a large number of variables, aims to estimate these associations and possible dominance of some variables in BD.

Methods

A sample of university students (N = 2851) participated in an internet survey-based study. They provided information on alcohol related variables (AUDIT, BD score), positional factors (sex, age), inter-individual factors (subjective norm, social identity, external motivations), and intra-individual factors (internal motivations, meta-cognitions, impulsivity and personality traits). The data were processed via a backward regression analysis including all variables and completed with a dominance analysis on variables that are significantly associated with BD intensity.

Results

The strongest variables associated with BD intensity were enhancement motives and drinking identity (average ΔR ² = 21.81%), followed by alcohol subjective norm and social motives (average ΔR ² = 13.99%). Other associated variables (average ΔR ² = 2,84%) were negative metacognition on uncontrollability, sex, coping motives, lack of premeditation, positive metacognition on cognitive self-regulation, positive urgency, lack of perseverance, age, conformity motives and loneliness.

Conclusion

Results offer new avenues at the empirical level, by spotting particularly inter-individual psychological variables that should be more thoroughly explored, but also at the clinical level, to elaborate new prevention strategies focusing on these specific factors.

The Effects of Light-to-Moderate Alcohol Consumption on the Cognitive Function of Community Nondemented Male Elderly: A Cohort Study

Aim

To investigate the effects of light-to-moderate drinking on the cognitive function of the elderly in a large elderly community cohort. Although heavy drinking is linked with impaired brain functions, the effects of light-to-moderate drinking on the cognitive function of the elderly are still controversial.

Methods

A total of 1469 nondemented elderly men from 15 research centers in 8 cities and provinces were included and divided into two groups: drinking (531 subjects) and nondrinking (938 subjects). Cognitive functions were assessed by the Beijing version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) at baseline and one-year follow-up.

Results

There was no difference in total cognitive scores between the light-to-moderate drinking and nondrinking groups at baseline and follow-up. Nonalcohol users performed better naming and abstraction function at baseline and better naming function at follow-up. There was no difference in cognitive performance decline and new-onset dementia rates at follow-up.

Conclusions

Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption had no significant impact on the overall cognitive function and the risk of dementia in elderly men.

Adolescent alcohol use disrupts functional neurodevelopment in sensation seeking girls

Exogenous causes, such as alcohol use, and endogenous factors, such as temperament and sex, can modulate developmental trajectories of adolescent neurofunctional maturation. We examined how these factors affect sexual dimorphism in brain functional networks in youth drinking below diagnostic threshold for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Based on the 3-year, annually acquired, longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of 526 adolescents (12-21 years at baseline) from the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) cohort, developmental trajectories of 23 intrinsic functional networks (IFNs) were analyzed for (1) sexual dimorphism in 259 participants who were no-to-low drinkers throughout this period; (2) sex-alcohol interactions in two age- and sex-matched NCANDA subgroups (N = 76 each), half no-to-low, and half moderate-to-heavy drinkers; and (3) moderating effects of gender-specific alcohol dose effects and a multifactorial impulsivity measure on IFN connectivity in all NCANDA participants. Results showed that sex differences in no-to-low drinkers diminished with age in the inferior-occipital network, yet girls had weaker within-network connectivity than boys in six other networks. Effects of adolescent alcohol use were more pronounced in girls than boys in three IFNs. In particular, girls showed greater within-network connectivity in two motor networks with more alcohol consumption, and these effects were mediated by sensation-seeking only in girls. Our results implied that drinking might attenuate the naturally diminishing sexual differences by disrupting the maturation of network efficiency more severely in girls. The sex-alcohol-dose effect might explain why women are at higher risk of alcohol-related health and psychosocial consequences than men.

Emotional processes in binge drinking: A systematic review and perspective

Binge drinking is a widespread alcohol consumption pattern commonly engaged by youth. Here, we present the first systematic review of emotional processes in relation to binge drinking. Capitalizing on a theoretical model describing three emotional processing steps (emotional appraisal/identification, emotional response, emotional regulation) and following PRISMA guidelines, we considered all identified human studies exploring emotional abilities among binge drinkers. A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and PsychINFO, and a standardized methodological quality assessment was performed for each study. The main findings offered by the 43 studies included are: 1) regarding emotional appraisal/identification, binge drinking is related to heightened negative emotional states, including greater severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms, and have difficulties in recognizing emotional cues expressed by others; 2) regarding emotional response, binge drinkers exhibit diminished emotional response compared with non-binge drinkers; 3) regarding emotional regulation, no experimental data currently support impaired emotion regulation in binge drinking. Variability in the identification and measurement of binge drinking habits across studies limits conclusions. Nevertheless, current findings establish the relevance of emotional processes in binge drinking and set the stage for new research perspectives to identify the nature and extent of emotional impairments in the onset and maintenance of excessive alcohol use.

Neural Responses to the Implicit Processing of Emotional Facial Expressions in Binge Drinking

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.

High Trait Attention Promotes Resilience and Reduces Binge Drinking Among College Students With a Family History of Alcohol Use Disorder

Binge patterns of alcohol use among post-high school emerging adults are associated with both immediate negative consequences and increased risk of long-term drinking problems, particularly among individuals with a family history (FH) of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Therefore, the developmental time period of emerging adulthood, paired with the high-risk environment of college campuses, represents an important target for interventions. Attentional ability has recently emerged as a mediator of resilience to stress-related psychopathology and offers a potential neurocognitive target for interventions. We tested the hypothesis that attentional ability promotes resilience to binge drinking in a sample of 464 college students with (n = 221) or without (n = 243) familial risk for AUD. Two-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) tested effects of FH and self-reported binge drinking on attention scores from the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). In addition, mediation analyses tested whether BIS attention scores mediated the relationship between Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale scores and binge drinking. ANCOVA results indicated a significant FH-by-binge drinking interaction (p = 0.008) in which FH positive subjects who did not binge drink had the fewest attention problems, consistent with a marker of resilience. Furthermore, BIS attention scores significantly mediated the effect of Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale scores on binge drinking, with stronger effects in FH positive subjects (p < 0.001) than FH negative subjects (p = 0.49). The findings suggest that attention promotes resilience to binge drinking in individuals with familial risk for AUD. Interventions targeting attentional ability in this high-risk population, particularly FH positive individuals with attention deficits, may serve to reduce binge drinking and its consequences.

The Interaction Between Genetic Variant ZNF804A rs1344706 and Alcohol Withdrawal on Impulsivity: Evidence for the Diathesis-Stress Model

Objective: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most common substance use disorder, which may relate to increased impulsivity. A more detailed understanding of the potential moderating factor on association between AUD and impulsivity is likely to have far-reaching effects. This study aims to examine whether the interaction between a genetic variant ZNF804A rs1344706 and alcohol use is related to impulsivity in Chinese Han adult males diagnosed with AUD. Methods: A total of 455 Chinese Han adult males diagnosed with AUD were included in this study. Impulsivity was assessed using Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Alcohol dependence was measured by Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of participants and genotyped. Results: Hierarchical multiple regression yielded a significant interaction between ZNF804A rs1344706 and alcohol use (β = 0.20, p = 0.0237). Then, A region of significance (RoS) test was performed to interpret the interaction effect. Re-parameterized regression models revealed that the interaction between ZNF804A rs1344706 and alcohol problem severity fit to the weak diathesis-stress model (R ² = 0.15, p < 0.0010), indicating that the T allele carriers are more susceptible to alcohol problem severity, jointly contributing to impulsivity. Conclusions: This study, which analyzed a specific gene-environment interaction, demonstrated that carriers of the T allele of ZNF804A rs1344706 may be more susceptible to alcohol problem severity, correlated with higher levels of impulsivity during withdrawal.

Deter the emotions: Alexithymia, impulsivity and their relationship to binge drinking

Introduction

The relevance of both emotion processing and impulsivity to alcohol use and misuse is increasingly recognised, yet there is a scarcity of studies addressing their reciprocal interaction. The present study aimed to examine the role that difficulties in emotion processing and trait impulsivity play in explaining binge drinking pattern of alcohol use in student population. We looked at binge drinking, as it is a risk factor to later alcohol abuse and is a common alcohol drinking habit among students. Alexithymia (from Greek as "deter/repel emotions"), a difficulty in identifying and describing feelings in self and others is increasingly recognised as a feature of alcohol misuse.

Methods

One-hundred and seventy-four student alcohol drinkers were assessed for their drinking habits (Alcohol Use Questionnaire), as well as for alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale) and impulsivity trait (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale); facial emotional expression judgements were also tested.

Results

A direct relationships between, both, alexithymia and impulsivity, and binge drinking was found. When combined, trait impulsivity partially mediated the relationship between alexithymia and binge drinking. Facial emotional expression judgements also showed a relationship with binge drinking.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the importance of both emotion processing and impulsivity in understanding binge drinking and indicate potential routes for prevention and intervention techniques, especially towards those who may be at risk of later alcohol abuse.

Component process analysis of verbal memory in a sample of students with a binge drinking pattern

Background

Many studies have emphasized the harmful impact of binge drinking on several cognitive functions, including memory. However, the exact nature of the memory processes involved is still unknown. The present study was designed to assess verbal working memory and verbal episodic memory, especially its encoding, storage and retrieval processes, in binge drinking to identify the processes impacted by this behavior.

Methods

Participants were 48 community-recruited college students aged 18-25 years and categorized as either binge drinkers (BDs) or social drinkers (SDs). They were assessed with (a) subtests of the Wechsler scale (digit span, letter-number sequencing) measuring verbal working memory, and (b) a modified version of the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT), which measures verbal episodic memory functioning in various conditions of encoding (controlled) and recollection (free recall, cued recall, and recognition).

Results

Verbal working memory was unaffected by binge drinking, whereas verbal episodic memory performances were reduced. In particular, analysis of the modified FCSRT scores suggested that BDs had less proficient storage and retrieval processes. Furthermore, correlational analyses indicated that the proficiency of these memory components was negatively correlated with several indicators of binge drinking behavior.

Conclusions

Results suggest that binge drinking behavior affects the storage and recollection processes of verbal episodic memory. The academic failure described in binge drinkers could be partly related to this harmful effect. Our results on the negative impact of binge drinking on memory should be used to develop information campaigns targeting students.

Sex and Age Effects on Neurobehavioral Toxicity Induced by Binge Alcohol

Historically, most alcohol neurotoxicity studies were conducted in young adult males and focused on chronic intake. There has been a shift towards studying the effects of alcohol on the adolescent brain, due to alcohol consumption during this formative period disrupting the brain's developmental trajectory. Because the most typical pattern of adolescent alcohol intake is heavy episodic (binge) drinking, there has also been a shift towards the study of binge alcohol-induced neurobehavioral toxicity. It has thus become apparent that binge alcohol damages the adolescent brain and there is increasing attention to sex-dependent effects. Significant knowledge gaps remain in our understanding of the effects of binge alcohol on the female brain, however. Moreover, it is unsettling that population-level studies indicate that the prevalence of binge drinking is increasing among American women, particularly those in older age groups. Although study of adolescents has made it apparent that binge alcohol disrupts ongoing brain maturational processes, we know almost nothing about how it impacts the aging brain, as studies of its effects on the aged brain are relatively scarce, and the study of sex-dependent effects is just beginning. Given the rapidly increasing population of older Americans, it is crucial that studies address age-dependent effects of binge alcohol, and given the increase in binge drinking in older women who are at higher risk for cognitive decline relative to men, studies must encompass both sexes. Because adolescence and older age are both characterized by age-typical brain changes, and because binge drinking is the most common pattern of alcohol intake in both age groups, the knowledge that we have amassed on binge alcohol effects on the adolescent brain can inform our study of its effects on the aging brain. In this review, we therefore cover the current state of knowledge of sex and age-dependent effects of binge alcohol, as well as statistical and methodological considerations for studies aimed at addressing them.

Eye Tracking Studies Exploring Cognitive and Affective Processes among Alcohol Drinkers: a Systematic Review and Perspectives

Acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol use disorders are characterized by a wide range of psychological and cerebral impairments, which have been widely explored using neuropsychological and neuroscientific techniques. Eye tracking has recently emerged as an innovative tool to renew this exploration, as eye movements offer complementary information on the processes underlying perceptive, attentional, memory or executive abilities. Building on this, the present systematic and critical literature review provides a comprehensive overview of eye tracking studies exploring cognitive and affective processes among alcohol drinkers. Using PRISMA guidelines, 36 papers that measured eye movements among alcohol drinkers were extracted from three databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus). They were assessed for methodological quality using a standardized procedure, and categorized based on the main cognitive function measured, namely perceptive abilities, attentional bias, executive function, emotion and prevention/intervention. Eye tracking indexes showed that alcohol-related disorders are related to: (1) a stable pattern of basic eye movement impairments, particularly during alcohol intoxication; (2) a robust attentional bias, indexed by increased dwell times for alcohol-related stimuli; (3) a reduced inhibitory control on saccadic movements; (4) an increased pupillary reactivity to visual stimuli, regardless of their emotional content; (5) a limited visual attention to prevention messages. Perspectives for future research are proposed, notably encouraging the exploration of eye movements in severe alcohol use disorders and the establishment of methodological gold standards for eye tracking measures in this field.

Frequency of Recent Binge Drinking Is Associated With Sex-Specific Cognitive Deficits: Evidence for Condition-Dependent Trait Expression in Humans

Evolutionary theory suggests that commonly found sex differences are largest in healthy populations and smaller in populations that have been exposed to stressors. We tested this idea in the context of men’s typical advantage (vs. women) in visuospatial abilities (e.g., mental rotation) and women’s typical advantage (vs. men) in social-cognitive (e.g., facial-expression decoding) abilities, as related to frequent binge drinking. Four hundred nineteen undergraduates classified as frequent or infrequent binge drinkers were assessed in these domains. Trial-level multilevel models were used to test a priori Sex × Group (binge drinking) interactions for visuospatial and social-cognitive tasks. Among infrequent binge drinkers, men’s typical advantage in visuospatial abilities and women’s typical advantage in social-cognitive abilities was confirmed. Among frequent binge drinkers, men’s advantage was reduced for one visuospatial task (Δ d = 0.29) and eliminated for another (Δ d = 0.75), and women’s advantage on the social-cognitive task was eliminated (Δ d = 0.12). Males who frequently engaged in extreme binges had exaggerated deficits on one of the visuospatial tasks, as did their female counterparts on the social-cognitive task. The results suggest sex-specific vulnerabilities associated with recent, frequent binge drinking, and support an evolutionary approach to the study of these vulnerabilities.

Distinct psychological profiles among college students with substance use: A cluster analytic approach

Substance use in youth is a central public health concern, related to deleterious consequences at psychological, social, and cognitive/cerebral levels. Previous research has identified impulsivity and consumption motives as key factors in the emergence of excessive substance use among college students. However, most studies have focused on a specific substance and have considered this population as a unitary group, ignoring the potential heterogeneity in psychological profiles. We used a cluster analytic approach to explore the heterogeneity in a large sample (N = 2741) of substance users (i.e., tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, heroin) on impulsivity and consumption motives. We identified four clusters: The first two clusters, associated with good self-esteem, low anxiety, and moderate substance use, were respectively characterized by low impulsivity and consumption motives (Cluster 1) and by high social and enhancement motives without marked impulsivity (Cluster 2). The two other clusters were conversely related to low self-esteem and high anxiety, and characterized by high consumption motives (particularly conformity) together with elevated urgency (Cluster 3) and by globally increased impulsivity and consumption motives (Cluster 4). These two clusters were also associated with higher substance use. These results highlight the existence of distinct psychological profiles of substance users and underline the need to develop targeted prevention and intervention programs (e.g., focusing on the specific impulsivity facets and consumption motives presented by each subgroup). Based on these findings, we also suggest extending the exploration of distinct profiles of substance users by targeting other psychological variables (e.g., self-esteem).

A TMS study of preparatory suppression in binge drinkers

Binge drinking consists in a pattern of consumption characterised by the repeated alternation between massive alcohol intakes and abstinence periods. A continuum hypothesis suggests that this drinking endeavour represents an early stage of alcohol dependence rather than a separate phenomenon. Among the variety of alterations in alcohol-dependent individuals (ADIs), one has to do with the motor system, which does not show a normal pattern of activity during action preparation. In healthy controls (HCs), motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over primary motor cortex (M1) show both facilitation and suppression effects, depending on the time and setting of TMS during action preparation. A recent study focusing on the suppression component revealed that this aspect of preparatory activity is abnormally weak in ADIs and that this defect scales with the risk of relapse. In the present study, we tested whether binge drinkers (BDs) present a similar deficit. To do so, we recorded MEPs in a set of hand muscles applying TMS in 20 BDs and in 20 matched HCs while they were preparing index finger responses in an instructed-delay choice reaction time task. Consistent with past research, the MEP data in HCs revealed a strong MEP suppression in this task. This effect was evident in all hand muscles, regardless of whether they were relevant or irrelevant in the task. BDs also showed some preparatory suppression, yet this effect was less consistent, especially in the prime mover of the responding hand. These findings suggest abnormal preparatory activity in BDs, similar to alcohol-dependent patients, though some of the current results also raise new questions regarding the significance of these observations.

Effect of alcohol on the sense of agency in healthy humans

Even at low to moderate doses, ingestion of the widely used recreational drug alcohol (ethanol) can impact cognitive and emotional processing. Recent studies show that the sense of agency (SoA; ie, the subjective experience of voluntary control over actions) can be modulated by specific pharmacological manipulations. The SoA, as quantified by the intentional binding (IB) paradigm, is enhanced by direct or indirect dopaminergic agonists in patients with Parkinson's disease and by ketamine (an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist) in healthy individuals. These findings implicate dopaminergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission in mechanisms underlying SoA. Alcohol has a complex set of actions, including disinhibition of dopaminergic neurotransmission and allosteric antagonism at NMDA receptors. Here, we tested the hypothesis that low to moderate doses of alcohol would enhance SoA, and impact impulsivity and subjective emotional state. We conducted two experiments in 59 healthy male and female social drinkers, who ingested either a placebo "vehicle," or one of two doses of ethanol: 0.4 and 0.6 g/kg. In both experiments, we observed increased SoA/IB at both doses of alcohol exposure, relative to the placebo condition. We found no correlation between the effects of alcohol on IB and on impulsivity or subjective emotional state. Our findings might have implications for social and legal responsibility related to alcohol use, particularly in states prior to overt intoxication. Further studies are necessary to investigate the effects of alcohol and other addictive substances on the SoA.

Building High Performance Explainable Machine Learning Models for Social Media-based Substance Use Prediction

Social media contain rich information that can be used to help understand human mind and behavior. Social media data, however, are mostly unstructured (e.g., text and image) and a large number of features may be needed to represent them (e.g., we may need millions of unigrams to represent social media texts). Moreover, accurately assessing human behavior is often difficult (e.g., assessing addiction may require medical diagnosis). As a result, the ground truth data needed to train a supervised human behavior model are often difficult to obtain at a large scale. To avoid overfitting, many state-of-the-art behavior models employ sophisticated unsupervised or self-supervised machine learning methods to leverage a large amount of unsupervised data for both feature learning and dimension reduction. Unfortunately, despite their high performance, these advanced machine learning models often rely on latent features that are hard to explain. Since understanding the knowledge captured in these models is important to behavior scientists and public health providers, we explore new methods to build machine learning models that are not only accurate but also interpretable. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed methods in predicting Substance Use Disorders (SUD). We believe the methods we proposed are general and applicable to a wide range of data-driven human trait and behavior analysis applications.

Craving is everything: An eye-tracking exploration of attentional bias in binge drinking

BACKGROUND

Attentional bias towards alcohol-related stimuli is a core characteristic of severe alcohol use disorders (AUD), directly linked to clinical variables (e.g. alcohol consumption, relapse). Nevertheless, the extent of this bias in subclinical populations remains poorly documented. This is particularly true for binge drinking, an alcohol consumption pattern highly prevalent in youth, characterised by an alternation between excessive intakes and withdrawal periods.

AIMS

We used eye-tracking to: (a) measure attentional bias in binge drinking, (b) determine its time course by dissociating early/late processing stages, (c) clarify its specificity for alcohol-related stimuli compared to other appetitive stimulations and (d) explore its modulation by current craving intensity.

METHODS

Binge drinkers (n=42) and matched controls (n=43) performed a visual probe task, requiring visual targets preceded by pairs of pictures to be processed, with three conditions (i.e. alcohol vs. soft drink, alcohol vs. high-calorie food, high-calorie food vs. low-calorie food).

RESULTS

No group difference was observed for early processing (i.e. first area of interest visited). Dwell times highlighted a bias towards soft drinks and healthy food among controls, without any global bias towards alcohol in binge drinkers. Centrally, a comparison of binge drinkers with low versus high current craving intensity indicated that binge drinking was associated with a bias towards alcohol and high-calorie food only in the presence of a high craving towards these stimuli.

CONCLUSION

Attentional bias towards alcohol reported in severe AUD is only found in binge drinkers in the presence of high craving and is generalised to other appetitive cues.

Can we boost attention and inhibition in binge drinking? Electrophysiological impact of neurocognitive stimulation

RATIONALE

Binge drinking (i.e. excessive episodic alcohol consumption) among young adults has been associated with deleterious consequences, notably at the cognitive and brain levels. These behavioural impairments and brain alterations have a direct impact on psychological and interpersonal functioning, but they might also be involved in the transition towards severe alcohol use disorders. Development of effective rehabilitation programs to reduce these negative effects as they emerge thus constitutes a priority in subclinical populations.

OBJECTIVES

The present study tested the behavioural and electrophysiological impact of neurocognitive stimulation (i.e. transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied during a cognitive task) to improve attention and inhibition abilities in young binge drinkers.

METHODS

Two groups (20 binge drinkers and 20 non-binge drinkers) performed two sessions in a counterbalanced order. Each session consisted of an inhibition task (i.e. Neutral Go/No-Go) while participants received left frontal tDCS or sham stimulation, immediately followed by an Alcohol-related Go/No-Go task, while both behavioural and electrophysiological measures were recorded.

RESULTS

No significant differences were observed between groups or sessions (tDCS versus sham stimulation) at the behavioural level. However, electrophysiological measurements during the alcohol-related inhibition task revealed a specific effect of tDCS on attentional resource mobilization (indexed by the N2 component) in binge drinkers, whereas later inhibition processes (indexed by the P3 component) remained unchanged in this population.

CONCLUSIONS

The present findings indicate that tDCS can modify the electrophysiological correlates of cognitive processes in binge drinking. While the impact of such brain modifications on actual neuropsychological functioning and alcohol consumption behaviours remains to be determined, these results underline the potential interest of developing neurocognitive stimulation approaches in this population.

Psychometric Properties of the "Alcohol Consumption Consequences Evaluation" (ACCE) Scale for Young Spanish University Students

Instruments that evaluate alcohol use consequences among young people do not consider the intensive alcohol consumption pattern that is so characteristic during these ages. Some of these instruments are even ineffective in the Spanish population. Hence the interest in developing an instrument more adapted to the reality of our young people. A total of 601 university students (35.9% male and 64.1% female) from 18 to 20 years old were recruited. All of them answered a total of 77 items obtained from the review of both the scientific literature and the different scales used to measure consequences derived from alcohol consumption. In addition, they completed the AUDIT and the Timeline Followback for self-reported consumption. The data were analyzed using factor analysis and a two-parameter logistic model. ROC curve analysis was used to establish cut-off points for different risk levels of alcohol consumption distinguishing between genders. The final 43-item scale Alcohol Consumption Consequences Evaluation (ACCE) (Evaluación de Consecuencias derivadas del Consumo de Alcohol [ECCA]) shows adequate psychometric properties: α = 0.94; unidimensionality through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (26.25% of explained variance) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (RMSEA = 0.39; TLI and CFI > 0.90). In addition, ROC analyses, both at a global scale and distinguishing between genders, were able to characterize consumers with different levels of risk, obtaining areas under the curve between 0.82 and 0.88. A scale has been obtained that enables the establishment of cut-off points to distinguish between the consequences of low, moderate and high risk alcohol consumption. The clinical utility of the ACCE is highlighted by using one single instrument to perform the screening of a possible alcohol risk consumption as well as identifying the consequences that need to be worked on in the evaluated person’s or group’s intervention.