Effects of varenicline on alcohol cue reactivity in heavy drinkers.

Rationale: Clinical trials and human laboratory studies have established that varenicline can reduce rates of alcohol use among heavy drinkers. Less is known about the mechanisms by which varenicline has this effect on drinking behavior. Reactivity to alcohol cues is often cited as the primary cause of relapse among those being treated for alcohol use disorder, and several front-line treatments for alcohol use disorder work, at least in part, by minimizing cue-induced alcohol craving.

A preliminary study on the effect of combined nicotine replacement therapy on alcohol responses and alcohol self-administration.

Background And Objectives: Limiting alcohol consumption may help prevent alcohol-mediated smoking relapse in heavy drinking smokers. This pilot study examined whether combining a nicotine patch with nicotine nasal spray has stronger attenuating effects on alcohol response and consumption than a nicotine patch alone.

Methods: Twenty-two non-alcohol dependent heavy drinking smokers completed the double-blind cross-over, placebo-controlled study (21 mg nicotine patch + nicotine or placebo nasal spray).

Longitudinal associations between smoking cessation medications and alcohol consumption among smokers in the International Tobacco Control Four Country survey.

Background: Available evidence suggests that quitting smoking does not alter alcohol consumption. However, smoking cessation medications may have a direct impact on alcohol consumption independent of any effects on smoking cessation. Using an international longitudinal epidemiological sample of smokers, we evaluated whether smoking cessation medications altered alcohol consumption independent of quitting smoking.

Does co-morbid depression alter the inverse relationship between obesity and substance use disorders?

Background: Substance use disorders and obesity are often inversely related to one another, hypothetically due to competition over shared neurobiological reward circuitry. However, obesity and substance use disorders share common risk factors, such as other psychiatric disorders. It is unknown whether the inverse relationship between obesity and substance use disorders continues to exist in the presence of shared risk factors.

Non-daily smoking predicts hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorders in young adults in a longitudinal U.S. sample.

Background: It is known that daily smoking is associated with the development of alcohol use disorders. However, non-daily smoking is prevalent in young adults and is associated with increased rates of problematic alcohol use in cross-sectional data. It is unknown whether non-daily smoking is predictive of hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorders using longitudinal data.

Alcohol and distraction interact to impair driving performance.

Background: Recognition of the risks associated with alcohol intoxication and driver distraction has led to a wealth of simulated driving research aimed at studying the adverse effects of each of these factors. Research on driving has moved beyond the individual, separate examination of these factors to the examination of potential interactions between alcohol intoxication and driver distraction. In many driving situations, distractions are commonplace and might have little or no disruptive influence on primary driving functions.

Stress decreases the ability to resist smoking and potentiates smoking intensity and reward.

We have developed a novel human laboratory model to examine two primary aspects of stress-precipitated tobacco relapse: (1) Does stress reduce the ability to resist the first cigarette? (2) Once the first cigarette is initiated, does stress facilitate subsequent smoking? Using a within-subject design, daily smokers (n = 37) who were nicotine deprived overnight received a personalized imagery induction (stress or neutral) on two separate days, and then had the option of initiating a tobacco self-administration session or delaying initiation for up to 50 min in exchange for three levels of monetary reinforcement. Subsequently, the tobacco self-administration session entailed a 1-hour period in which subjects could choose to smoke using a smoking topography system. Following the stress induction, subjects were less able to resist smoking, smoked more intensely (increased puffs, shorter inter-puff interval, and greater peak puff velocity), and perceived greater satisfaction and reward from smoking.

Alcohol expectancy increases positive responses to cigarettes in young, escalating smokers.

Rationale: A large proportion of smokers consolidate their smoking patterns during young adulthood, and it is possible that the high rates of drinking found in this age group may facilitate the transition from nondaily to daily cigarette use.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to examine how alcohol alters the subjective effects of smoking in heavy-drinking young adults (age 21-25) who are still at an experimental stage of smoking but show recent increases in their smoking behavior.

Methods: Using a within-subject design, we examined whether alcohol or the expectation of receiving alcohol increased either subjective responses to smoking or the amount smoked.

Effects of the nicotinic receptor antagonist mecamylamine on ad-lib smoking behavior, topography, and nicotine levels in smokers with and without schizophrenia: a preliminary study.

Individuals with schizophrenia have higher plasma nicotine levels in comparison to non-psychiatric smokers, even when differences in smoking are equated. This difference may be related to how intensely cigarettes are smoked but this has not been well studied. Mecamylamine (MEC), a non-competitive nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonist, which has been shown to increase ad-lib smoking and to affect smoking topography, was used in the current study as a pharmacological probe to increase our understanding of smoking behavior, smoking topography, and resulting nicotine levels in smokers with schizophrenia.

Nicotine deprivation and trait impulsivity affect smokers' performance on cognitive tasks of inhibition and attention.

Increased nicotine deprivation and impulsivity have been associated with relapse but the degree to which they together influence cognitive processing has not been explored. We examined the effects of increasing levels of nicotine deprivation on cognitive processing, and assessed the relationship of trait impulsivity with these effects in daily smokers (n=30). Using a within-subject design with three deprivation conditions (nondeprived, 5-hr, 17-hr), volunteers completed the Conners' Continuous Performance Task-II and the Cued Go/No-Go Task.

Varenicline reduces alcohol self-administration in heavy-drinking smokers.

Background: Alcohol and tobacco dependence are highly comorbid disorders, with preclinical evidence suggesting a role for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in alcohol consumption. Varenicline, a partial nicotinic agonist with high affinity for the alpha4beta2 nAChR receptor, reduced ethanol intake in rodents. We aimed to test whether varenicline would reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol craving in humans.

Experimenting and daily smokers: episodic patterns of alcohol and cigarette use.

Alcohol use may facilitate the development of nicotine dependence. Alcohol is often paired with cigarette smoking, particularly in those experimenting with smoking. However, little research has examined episodic patterns of alcohol and cigarette use.

Nondaily smoking and alcohol use, hazardous drinking, and alcohol diagnoses among young adults: findings from the NESARC.

Background: Nondaily smoking and heavy alcohol use are prevalent behaviors among young adults, with nondaily smoking occurring primarily in the context of alcohol use. Although the relationship between drinking and daily smoking has been well characterized in young adults, few epidemiological investigations have investigated the association between nondaily smoking and drinking behavior.

Methods: We examined Wave 1 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC; Grant et al.

Effects of alcohol on simulated driving and perceived driving impairment in binge drinkers.

Background: Binge drinking (heavy episodic alcohol use) is associated with high rates of impaired driving and myriad alcohol-related accidents. However, the underlying reasons for the heightened accident risk in this demographic group are not known. This research examined acute alcohol effects on simulated driving performance and subjective ratings of intoxication and driving ability in binge and nonbinge drinkers.

Acute disinhibiting effects of alcohol as a factor in risky driving behavior.

Automobile crash reports show that up to 40% of fatal crashes in the United States involve alcohol and that younger drivers are over-represented. Alcohol use among young drivers is associated with impulsive and risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, which could contribute to their over-representation in alcohol-related crash statistics. Recent laboratory studies show that alcohol increases impulsive behaviors by impairing the drinker's ability to inhibit inappropriate actions and that this effect can be exacerbated in conflict situations where the expression and inhibition of behavior are equally motivating.

Driver training conditions affect sensitivity to the impairing effects of alcohol on a simulated driving test [corrected].

Research shows that prior behavioral training in a challenging environment reduces alcohol-induced impairment on simple psychomotor tasks. However, no studies have examined if this relationship generalizes to driving performance. The present study examined simulated driving performance and tested the hypothesis that a challenging training history would protect against the impairing effects of alcohol on driving performance.

Young adult non-daily smokers: patterns of alcohol and cigarette use.

Binge drinking and non-daily cigarette smoking are behaviors that are both problematic and prevalent in young adults. Although the relationship between drinking and daily smoking has been well categorized, the intersection between drinking and smoking in non-daily smokers has not been heavily researched. Past 30-day and within-episode patterns of alcohol and cigarette use were collected in young adult non-daily smokers (N=40).

Transfer of learning to compensate for impairment by alcohol and visual degradation.

Rationale: Past research on social drinkers shows that prior experience performing a task in a visually degraded environment results in the reduction of alcohol-induced impairment. It is possible that task experience under alcohol might similarly carry over to reduce impairment from visual degradation.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to test the symmetry of the transfer of learning between two distinct sources of impairment, visual degradation and alcohol.

Are bad drivers more impaired by alcohol? Sober driving precision predicts impairment from alcohol in a simulated driving task.

The contribution of driver experience to risk for alcohol-related crashes is based on the tacit assumption that driver experience contributes to driver skill which could mediate the impairing effects of alcohol on driving performance. Surprisingly, few studies of alcohol effects on simulated driving performance have examined the role of driver skill as a mediator of the intensity of alcohol impairment. The present study examined the degree to which individual differences in driving skill mediated the intensity of impairment produced by a moderate dose of alcohol in a group of young adult drivers.

Social drinkers underestimate the additive impairing effects of alcohol and visual degradation on behavioral functioning.

Rationale: Studies have shown that social drinkers are poor estimators of alcohol-induced impairment. Underestimates of blood alcohol concentration and other indices of intoxication are associated with decisions to perform risky behaviors, such as operating a motor vehicle. It is possible that self-evaluations of impaired functioning under alcohol might be particularly compromised in the presence of other sources of impairment.