Nicholas A. Cummings (1924-2020).

Memorializes Nicholas A. Cummings (1924-2020). In 1958, Nick took the position of Chief of Mental Health for the Northern Kaiser Permanente health system.

Relationships between drinking quantity and frequency and behavioral and hippocampal BOLD responses during working memory performance involving allocentric spatial navigation in college students.

Background: Quantity and frequency of drinking may be used to effectively quantify the severity of alcohol-use. Drinking-severity has been related to neurocognitive impairments in such domains as spatial working memory (SWM). Youth drinking has been associated with altered neurofunctional underpinnings of SWM.

Relationship between fMRI response during a nonverbal memory task and marijuana use in college students.

Marijuana (MJ) is widely used among college students, with peak use between ages 18-22. Research suggests memory dysfunction in adolescent and young adult MJ users, but the neural correlates are unclear. We examined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) response during a memory task among college students with varying degrees of MJ involvement.

Longitudinal Effects of Alcohol Consumption on the Hippocampus and Parahippocampus in College Students.

Background: The hazardous effects of alcohol consumption on both the hippocampus and memory have been well established. However, the longitudinal effects of ethanol on the developing brain and related consequences on memory are not well explored. Given the above, we investigated the longitudinal effects of college drinking on hippocampal volume in emerging college adults.

Heavy Drinking in College Students Is Associated with Accelerated Gray Matter Volumetric Decline over a 2 Year Period.

Heavy and/or harmful alcohol use while in college is a perennial and significant public health issue. Despite the plethora of cross-sectional research suggesting deleterious effects of alcohol on the brain, there is a lack of literature investigating the longitudinal effects of alcohol consumption on the adolescent brain. We aim to probe the longitudinal effects of college drinking on gray matter change in students during this crucial neurodevelopmental period.

Composite impulsivity-related domains in college students.

Impulsivity is a complex, multidimensional construct with prior theoretically and empirically derived characterizations of impulsivity-related behaviors varying considerably among studies. We assessed college students (N = 440) longitudinally with five impulsivity-related self-reported assessments and two computerized behavioral measures. Using a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), we derived then validated several composite impulsivity-related domains (CIRDs).

Longitudinal influence of alcohol and marijuana use on academic performance in college students.

Background: Alcohol and marijuana are the two most abused substances in US colleges. However, research on the combined influence (cross sectional or longitudinal) of these substances on academic performance is currently scant.

Methods: Data were derived from the longitudinal 2-year Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students (BARCS) study including 1142 freshman students who completed monthly marijuana use and alcohol consumption surveys.

Effects of drinking patterns on prospective memory performance in college students.

Objective: Traditional college students are at a critical juncture in the development of prospective memory (PM). Their brains are vulnerable to the effects of alcohol.

Method: There were 123 third and fourth year college students, 19-23 years old, who completed the Self-Rating Effects of Alcohol (SREA), Modified Timeline Follow-back (TFLB), Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Scale (BYAACS), and Alcohol Effects Questionnaire (AEQ) once per month on a secure online database, as reported elsewhere (Dager et al.

A longitudinal study of the effects of coping motives, negative affect and drinking level on drinking problems among college students.

We examined among college students the interactive effects of drinking to cope (DTC) motivation, anxiety and depression symptoms, and drinking level in predicting drinking-related problems (DRPs). Using an Internet-based survey, participants (N = 844, 53% women) first reported on their drinking motives and monthly for up to three months, they reported on their drinking level, anxiety, depression, and DRPs. We found a three-way interaction between DTC motivation and average levels of drinking and anxiety (but not depression) in predicting DRPs.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) response to alcohol pictures predicts subsequent transition to heavy drinking in college students.

Background And Aims: Young adults show the highest rates of escalating drinking, yet the neural risk mechanisms remain unclear. Heavy drinkers show variant functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response to alcohol cues, which may presage increasing drinking. In this longitudinal study, we ascertained whether BOLD response to alcohol pictures predicted subsequent heavy drinking among college students.

A person-centered approach to understanding negative reinforcement drinking among first year college students.

The current study used a person-centered approach (i.e. latent profile analysis) to identify distinct types of college student drinkers based on the predictions of motivational, social learning, and stress and coping theories of maladaptive drinking.

Influence of alcohol use on neural response to Go/No-Go task in college drinkers.

Impaired inhibition of prepotent motor response may represent an important risk factor for alcoholism. Alcohol use may also increase impulsive behavior, including impaired response inhibition. Little is known about the brain function underlying response inhibition among college-age drinkers based on their drinking patterns, despite college-age drinkers demonstrating high rates of alcohol-use disorders.

Influence of alcohol use and family history of alcoholism on neural response to alcohol cues in college drinkers.

Background: Heavy drinkers show altered functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) response to alcohol cues. Little is known about alcohol cue reactivity among college age drinkers, who show the greatest rates of alcohol use disorders. Family history of alcoholism (family history positive [FHP]) is a risk factor for problematic drinking, but the impact on alcohol cue reactivity is unclear.

Case vignette: the vicissitudes of managed care.

Lee Wilson, age 26, was referred to Dr. Jackson for psychotherapy 5 weeks ago by a friend. Lee has been feeling increasingly depressed about longstanding family issues and the recent breakup of a 2-year relationship with a live-in companion.