Electrophysiological Correlates of an Alcohol-Cued Go/NoGo Task: A Dual-Process Approach to Binge Drinking in University Students

Neurostructural features predict binge drinking in emerging adulthood: Evidence from a 5-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND

Binge drinking (BD) involves consuming large amounts of alcohol within a short timeframe, leading to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08g/dL or above. This pattern of alcohol consumption is prevalent among young adults and has significant implications for brain structure and subsequent drinking behaviors.

METHODS

In this prospective longitudinal study, we employed zero-inflated negative binomial regression models to examine whether various neurostructural features (i.e., volume, surface area, cortical thickness) of brain regions involved in executive and emotional/motivational processes at the age of 18-19 could predict number of BD episodes five years later, at ages 23-24, once participants were expected to complete their university degree. Specifically, we recorded magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 68 students who completed both the baseline MRI and follow-up alcohol use assessment, with the aim of analyzing the predictive value of these neurostructural characteristics five years later.

RESULTS

The analysis revealed that a larger surface area in the caudal division of the right middle frontal gyrus was significantly associated with a higher incidence rate of BD episodes (IRR = 2.24, 95 % CI = 1.28-3.91, p = 0.005). Conversely, a smaller surface area in the right caudal anterior cingulate cortex was associated with a higher incidence rate of BD episodes (IRR = 0.61, 95 % CI = 0.44-0.85, p = 0.004).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that specific neurostructural characteristics during adolescence can predict BD behaviors in young adulthood. This highlights the potential of neuroimaging to identify individuals at risk for developing problematic alcohol use.

Adolescent alcohol consumption predicted by differences in electrophysiological functional connectivity and neuroanatomy

Alcohol consumption during adolescence has been associated with neuroanatomical abnormalities and the appearance of future disorders. However, the latest advances in this field point to the existence of risk profiles which may lead to some individuals into an early consumption. To date, some studies have established predictive models of consumption based on sociodemographic, behavioral, and anatomical-functional variables using MRI. However, the neuroimaging variables employed are usually restricted to local and hemodynamic phenomena. Given the potential of connectome approaches, and the high temporal dynamics of electrophysiology, we decided to explore the relationship between future alcohol consumption and electrophysiological connectivity measured by MEG in a cohort of 83 individuals aged 14 to 16. As a result, we found a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and the functional connectivity in frontal, parietal, and frontoparietal connections. Once this relationship was described, multivariate linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the predictive capacity of functional connectivity in conjunction with other neuroanatomical and behavioral variables described in the literature. Finally, the multivariate linear regression analysis determined the importance of anatomical and functional variables in the prediction of alcohol consumption but failed to find associations with impulsivity, sensation seeking, and executive function scales. In conclusion, the predictive traits obtained in these models were closely associated with changes occurring during adolescence, suggesting the existence of different paths in neurodevelopment that have the potential to influence adolescents' relationship with alcohol consumption.

Fast Fractional Fourier Transform-Aided Novel Graphical Approach for EEG Alcoholism Detection

Given its detrimental effect on the brain, alcoholism is a severe disorder that can produce a variety of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral issues. Alcoholism is typically diagnosed using the CAGE assessment approach, which has drawbacks such as being lengthy, prone to mistakes, and biased. To overcome these issues, this paper introduces a novel paradigm for identifying alcoholism by employing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The proposed framework is divided into various steps. To begin, interference and artifacts in the EEG data are removed using a multiscale principal component analysis procedure. This cleaning procedure contributes to information quality improvement. Second, an innovative graphical technique based on fast fractional Fourier transform coefficients is devised to visualize the chaotic character and complexities of the EEG signals. This elucidates the properties of regular and alcoholic EEG signals. Third, thirty-four graphical features are extracted to interpret the EEG signals' haphazard behavior and differentiate between regular and alcoholic trends. Fourth, we propose an ensembled feature selection method for obtaining an effective and reliable feature group. Following that, we study many neural network classifiers to choose the optimal classifier for building an efficient framework. The experimental findings show that the suggested method obtains the best classification performance by employing a recurrent neural network (RNN), with 97.5% accuracy, 96.7% sensitivity, and 98.3% specificity for the sixteen selected features. The proposed framework can aid physicians, businesses, and product designers to develop a real-time system.

Electrophysiological signature of the interplay between habits and inhibition in response to smoking-related cues in individuals with a smoking habit: An event-related potential study

The rigid, stimulus-bound nature of drug seeking that characterizes substance use disorder (SUD) has been related to a dysregulation of motivational and early attentional reflexive and inhibitory reflective systems. However, the mechanisms by which these systems are engaged by drug-paired conditioned stimuli (CSs) when they promote the enactment of seeking habits in individuals with a SUD have not been elucidated. The present study aimed behaviourally and electrophysiologically to characterize the nature of the interaction between the reflexive and reflective systems recruited by CSs in individuals with a smoking habit. We measured the behavioural performance and associated event-related potentials (ERPs) of 20 individuals with a smoking habit and 20 controls, who never smoked regularly, in a modified Go/NoGo task during which smoking-related CSs, appetitive and neutral pictures, presented either in first or third-person visual perspective were displayed 250 ms before the Go/NoGo cue. We show that smoking-related cues selectively influence early incentive motivation-related attention bias (N2 after picture onset), motor readiness and behavioural inhibition (Go-P3, NoGo-P3 and Pc) of individuals with a smoking habit only when presented from a first-person visual perspective. These data together identify the neural signature of the aberrant engagement of the reflexive and reflective systems during the recruitment of an incentive habit by CSs presented as if they had been response-produced, that is, as conditioned reinforcers.

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.

Adolescent brain maturation and the neuropathological effects of binge drinking: A critical review

Adolescence is a transitional stage marked by continued brain development. This period is accompanied by physical and neurochemical modifications in the shape and function of the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and other limbic system structures. Brain maturation during adolescence, which is typically governed by intrinsic factors, can be dramatically altered by environmental influences such as drugs and alcohol. Unlike many other addictive substances, binge drinking is very common and normative among teenagers and young adults. This repeated pattern of excessive alcohol consumption in adolescents has been shown to cause behavioral changes and neurocognitive impairments that include increased anxiety, risky decision-making, and learning deficits, which could lead to the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). This manuscript highlights factors that lead to adolescent binge drinking, discusses maturational changes that occur in an adolescent's brain, and then evaluates the effect of adolescent alcohol consumption on brain structure, function, and neurocognitive abilities in both human studies and animal models. The impact of gender/sex and COVID-19 are briefly discussed. Understanding the factors that promote the onset of adolescent binge drinking and its undesirable consequences could serve as a catalyst for developing therapeutic agents that would decrease or eradicate the damaging effects of alcohol on an adolescent brain.

Effects of Persistent Binge Drinking on Brain Structure in Emerging Adults: A Longitudinal Study

Previous cross-sectional research has largely associated binge drinking (BD) with changes in volume and thickness during adolescence and early adulthood. Nevertheless, the long-term alcohol-related effects on gray matter features in youths who had maintained a BD pattern over time have not yet been sufficiently explored. The present study aimed to assess group differences both cross-sectionally and longitudinally [using symmetric percent change (SPC)] on several structural measures (i.e., thickness, surface area, volume). For this purpose, magnetic resonance imaging was recorded twice within a 2-year interval; at baseline (18-19 years) and a follow-up (20-21 years). The sample included 44 university students who were classified as 16 stable binge drinkers (8 females) and 28 stable controls (13 females). Whole-brain analysis showed larger insular surface area in binge drinkers relative to controls at follow-up (cluster-wise p = 0.045). On the other hand, region of interest (ROI) analyses on thickness also revealed a group by sex interaction at follow-up (p = 0.005), indicating that BD males had smaller right rostral middle frontal gyrus thickness than both control males (p = 0.011) and BD females (p = 0.029). Similarly, ROI-based analysis on longitudinal data showed a group by sex interaction in the right nucleus accumbens (p = 0.009) which revealed a decreased volume across time in BD males than in control males (p = 0.007). Overall, continued BD pattern during emerging adulthood appears to lead to gray matter abnormalities in regions intimately involved in reward processing, emotional regulation and executive functions. Notably, some anomalies varied significantly depending on sex, suggesting a sex-specific impact of BD on typical neurodevelopment processes.

Alcohol-related stimuli modulate functional connectivity during response inhibition in young binge drinkers

Binge drinking is a pattern of intermittent excessive alcohol consumption that is highly prevalent in young people. Neurocognitive dual-process models have described substance abuse and adolescence risk behaviours as the result of an imbalance between an overactivated affective-automatic system (related to motivational processing) and damaged and/or immature reflective system (related to cognitive control abilities). Previous studies have evaluated the reflective system of binge drinkers (BDs) through neutral response inhibition tasks and have reported anomalies in theta (4-8 Hz) and beta (12-30 Hz) bands. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of the motivational value of alcohol-related stimuli on brain functional networks devoted to response inhibition in young BDs. Sixty eight BDs and 78 control participants performed a beverage Go/NoGo task while undergoing electrophysiological recording. Whole cortical brain functional connectivity (FC) was evaluated during successful response inhibition trials (NoGo). BDs exhibited fast-beta and theta hyperconnectivity in regions related to cognitive control. These responses were modulated differently depending on the motivational content of the stimuli. The increased salience of alcohol-related stimuli may lead to overactivation of the affective-automatic system in BDs, and compensatory neural resources of the reflective system will thus be required during response inhibition. In BDs, inhibition of the response to alcohol stimuli may require higher theta FC to facilitate integration of information related to the task goal (withholding a response), while during inhibition of the response to no-alcoholic stimuli, higher fast-beta FC would allow to apply top-down inhibitory control of the information related to the prepotent response.

Subjective executive function deficits in hazardous alcohol drinkers

BACKGROUND

Dependent alcohol drinkers exhibit differences in the structure and function of the brain, and impairments in cognitive function, including executive functions (EFs). Less is known about the impact of non-dependent but hazardous use (that which raises the risk of harm), and it is also unclear to what extent executive impairments in this cohort affect real-world function. The current study examines the relationship between alcohol use, EF and alcohol-related problems, in the general population.

METHODS

A between-groups cross-sectional design assessed EF across two levels of drinking; hazardous (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score of ⩾8) and non-hazardous. Alcohol drinkers (n = 666; 136 male; 524 female; six not disclosed; aged 28.02 ± 10.40 years) completed validated questionnaires online assessing subjective EF, alcohol use and alcohol-related problems.

RESULTS

Organisation, Strategic Planning, Impulse Control and overall function were significantly impaired in hazardous drinkers. Furthermore, the effect of alcohol on EF, partially mediated the relationship between alcohol use and alcohol-related problems.

CONCLUSION

Hazardous drinking was associated with lower subjective EF, and this mediated the effect of alcohol on alcohol-related problems. This may be due to changes in prefrontal brain regions, which could indicate greater risk for the development of alcohol dependence (AD). Future research should use additional means to assess EF in hazardous drinkers, including recovery of function, development of AD and the relationship between cognition and alcohol-related daily problems.

Electrophysiological indexes for impaired response inhibition and salience attribution in substance (stimulants and depressants) use disorders: A meta-analysis

The impairment of inhibitory control and reward system is the core feature underlying substance use disorder (SUD). Previous studies suggested that it can be regarded as impaired response inhibition and salience attribution syndrome (iRISA). The neural substrates of the two deficit functions were widely investigated in neuroimaging studies, and the impaired prefrontal cortex, limbic-orbitofrontal network, and fronto-insular-parietal network were observed. Previous Event-related potential (ERP) studies were also conducted to explore EEG indexes related to abnormal brain function. In the current meta-analysis, we aimed to explore the consistency of ERP indexes that can reflect the two aberrant processes: P300/slow potential (SP) for salience attribution and Error-related negativity (ERN)/Nogo-N200/Nogo-P300 for inhibitory control and conflict monitoring. Subgroup analyses for drug type and drug use conditions were also conducted. According to the 60 research studies, we found significantly enhanced drug-cue-induced P300 amplitude and attenuated Nogo-N200 amplitude in SUD individuals relative to Healthy control (HC), which supports the dual model. Moreover, the drug-cue-induced P300 displayed time-dependence recovery, suggesting a potential index for treatment evaluation. In conclusion, drug-cue-induced P300 and Nogo-N200 demonstrated high consistency, and the drug-cue-induced P300 can be used to track the changes of functional recovery for SUD. The integration of the two ERP components could be regarded as a potential biomarker for SUD, which may provide a new insight for clinical treatment and investigation.

Neurophysiological correlates of alcohol-specific inhibition in alcohol use disorder and its association with craving and relapse

OBJECTIVE

This study investigates neurophysiological correlates of general and alcohol-specific inhibitory control in patients with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), focusing on its association with individual craving levels and with relapse at three-month follow-up.

METHODS

59 abstinent AUD patients and 20 healthy controls performed a Go/NoGo task incorporating alcohol-related and neutral stimuli during 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) recording, yielding four event-related potentials (ERP) per participant (NoGo-Alcohol, Go-Alcohol, NoGo-Neutral, Go-Neutral). Whole-scalp randomization-based statistics assessed effects of the factors group (patients/controls or relapsers/abstainers), craving level, response type (NoGo/Go) and picture type (alcohol/neutral) on topography and signal strength of the ERP components N2 and P3.

RESULTS

No differences on group level were observed between patients and controls. However, analyses incorporating individual craving indicated that the topographic difference between alcohol-related and neutral NoGo-N2 components increased with craving. Moreover, topographic differences in the alcohol-related and neutral NoGo-P3 component allowed for differentiation between relapsers and abstainers.

CONCLUSIONS

In alcohol-related contexts, the response inhibition conflict reflected in the NoGo-N2 seems enhanced in patients with high craving. The inhibition-sensitive NoGo-P3 varies in relapsers but not in abstainers between neutral and alcohol-related contexts.

SIGNIFICANCE

In AUD patients, neurophysiological correlates of inhibition vary with alcohol-related contexts and craving, and might be indicative of relapse risk.

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.

Electroencephalographic signatures of the binge drinking pattern during adolescence and young adulthood: A PRISMA-driven systematic review

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Controls and binge drinkers (BDs) do not differ in their behavioral performance.

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BDs show increased neural activity during attention, working memory and inhibition.

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Augmented P3 amplitude in BDs was the most solid electrophysiological finding.

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Evidence does not support specific gender vulnerabilities to the effects of BD.

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Memory, emotional processing and decision-making processes need further exploration.

Research on neurophysiological impairments associated with binge drinking (BD), an excessive but episodic alcohol use pattern, has significantly increased over the last decade. This work is the first to systematically review –following PRISMA guidelines- the empirical evidence regarding the effects of BD on neural activity –assessed by electroencephalography- of adolescents and young adults. A systematic review was conducted in 34 studies (N = 1723). Results indicated that binge drinkers (BDs) showed similar behavioral performance as non/low drinkers. The most solid electrophysiological finding was an augmented P3 amplitude during attention, working memory and inhibition tasks. This increased neural activity suggests the recruitment of additional resources to perform the task at adequate/successful levels, which supports the neurocompensation hypothesis. Similar to alcoholics, BDs also displayed increased reactivity to alcohol-related cues, augmented resting-state electrophysiological signal and reduced activity during error detection –which gives support to the continuum hypothesis. Evidence does not seem to support greater vulnerability to BD in females. Replication and longitudinal studies are required to account for mixed results and to elucidate the extent/direction of the neural impairments associated with BD.

We Need to Delay the Age of Onset of Alcohol Consumption

In recent years, new consumption patterns, such as binge drinking, have increased among young people and have not always been recognized as problematic either by health personnel or by society in general, as they are intensive episodes, interspersed with no consumption periods. Although the prevalence of alcohol use disorders in the adult population continues to be higher in men than in women, these gender differences in relation to alcohol consumption are barely observed in adolescents between 14 and 18. Therefore, we are witnessing a change in the pattern of consumption, from regular to episodic, and an attenuation of gender differences. New patterns of alcohol consumption have not only been associated with an increased risk of alcohol use disorders in adult life, but also with neurocognitive involvement in youth. Understanding the risk and resilience factors of alcoholism or problematic drinking patterns will not only allow us to identify the most vulnerable group, but also to guide prevention programs towards protective factors; the skills that contribute to the natural abandonment of the pattern. Knowing the variables involved in the trajectories of abandonment and dependency would contribute to personalizing the interventions and increasing their efficacy and success—a lower relapse rate—, reducing the economic and socio-sanitary costs associated with alcohol dependency, as well as improving the health and well-being, family relations, work and social status of alcohol-dependent people.

Response Inhibition and Binge Drinking During Transition to University: An fMRI Study

BACKGROUND

Binge Drinking (BD), a highly prevalent drinking pattern among youth, has been linked with anomalies in inhibitory control. However, it is still not well characterized whether the neural mechanisms involved in this process are compromised in binge drinkers (BDs). Furthermore, recent findings suggest that exerting inhibitory control to alcohol-related stimuli requires an increased effort in BDs, relative to controls, but the brain regions subserving these effects have also been scarcely investigated. Here we explored the impact of BD on the pattern of neural activity mediating response inhibition and its modulation by the motivational salience of stimuli (alcohol-related content).

METHODS

Sixty-seven (36 females) first-year university students, classified as BDs (n = 32) or controls (n = 35), underwent fMRI as they performed an alcohol-cued Go/NoGo task in which pictures of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages were presented as Go or NoGo stimuli.

RESULTS

During successful inhibition trials, BDs relative to controls showed greater activity in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), extending to the anterior insula, a brain region usually involved in response inhibition tasks, despite the lack of behavioral differences between groups. Moreover, BDs displayed increased activity in this region restricted to the right hemisphere when inhibiting a prepotent response to alcohol-related stimuli.

CONCLUSIONS

The increased neural activity in the IFG/insula during response inhibition in BDs, in the absence of behavioral impairments, could reflect a compensatory mechanism. The findings suggest that response inhibition-related activity in the right IFG/insula is modulated by the motivational salience of stimuli and highlight the role of this brain region in suppressing responses to substance-associated cues.