Attentional bias to alcohol-related cues: effects of menstrual cycle phase and sex differences.

Rationale: A recent study by our group found that women displayed greater attentional bias to alcohol-related cues during the late versus early follicular phase in both sober and intoxicated states, suggesting a greater risk of excessive drinking among women during this phase. Changes in attentional bias as a function of menstrual cycle phase raise questions about potential sex differences in the relative consistency by which women and men display attentional bias to alcohol over time.

Objectives: The present study tested sex differences in attentional bias to alcohol by comparing the change in women's attentional bias from early to late follicular phase to that observed in men over the same period.

Effect of menstrual cycle on rewarding properties of alcohol cues in women.

Objective: Compared with men, women are disproportionately affected by alcohol, including greater risks of behavioral impairment and relapse from abstinence-based treatments. One potential mechanism underlying this disparity is ovarian hormone fluctuations across menstrual cycle phases, particularly estradiol (E2). Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that E2 levels positively correlate with alcohol consumption, suggesting E2 modulates drinking.

Use of mindfulness training to improve BAC self-estimation during a drinking episode.

Objective: Individuals are often inaccurate at estimating levels of intoxication following doses of alcohol. Previous research has shown that when required to estimate (BAC) at different time points, participants often underestimate their BACs and amounts of alcohol consumed. The present study aimed to increase drinkers' BAC estimation accuracy after drinking alcohol using mindfulness-based feedback to increase their awareness of the interoceptive cues associated with alcohol intoxication.

Cognitive preoccupation with drinking and behavioral effects of alcohol as predictors of current consumption patterns.

Background: Acute alcohol responses such as tolerance to alcohol-induced motor impairment and heightened sensitivity to alcohol-induced disinhibition are associated with heavier drinking. Additionally, certain cognitive characteristics may also indicate problem-drinking. For example, cognitive and emotional preoccupation (CEP) with alcohol is associated with heavier drinking.

Heightened motor impairment as a protective factor against heavy drinking in individuals with high alcohol-induced disinhibition.

Background: Behavioral disinhibition and motor impairment are both acutely elevated following alcohol consumption, and individual differences in sensitivity to alcohol-induced increases in these effects are associated with drinking habits. Specifically, high alcohol-induced disinhibition and low motor impairment have been identified as separate markers for alcohol-related problems. This study tested the degree to which alcohol-induced disinhibition and motor impairment jointly predict heavy drinking.

Heightened sensitivity to the disinhibiting effect of alcohol in women during the late follicular phase of the menstrual cycle.

Compared with men, women are disproportionately affected by alcohol, including greater risks of physiological damage, behavioral impairment, and relapse. One likely mechanism underlying the sexual disparity in this vulnerability is the fluctuation of ovarian hormones, particularly estradiol (E2), across phases of the menstrual cycle. Several preclinical and clinical studies have shown that higher E2 levels positively correlate with drinking, suggesting E2 may play a significant role in modulating drinking.

"Sensitivity to the disinhibiting effect of alcohol: The role of trait impulsivity and sex differences": Clarification.

Unlabelled: Reports a clarification to "Sensitivity to the disinhibiting effect of alcohol: The role of trait impulsivity and sex differences" by Holley C. Allen, Michael J. Wesley, Jessica Weafer and Mark T.

Sensitivity to the disinhibiting effect of alcohol: The role of trait impulsivity and sex differences.

Unlabelled: [Clarification Notice: A clarification for this article was reported online in on Aug 18 2022 (see record 2022-92429-001). In the original article, simultaneous linear regression analyses examined the role of sex and trait impulsivity differences in participants' unintoxicated level of behavioral impulsivity and sensitivity to alcohol-induced increases in disinhibition. High levels of trait impulsivity were associated with higher unintoxicated disinhibition; however, no sex difference in this relationship was obtained.

Conceptualizing the UPPS-P model of impulsive personality through network analysis: Key dimensions and general robustness across young adulthood.

Objective: Within the UPPS-P model of impulsive personality, negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking dimensions have been linked to unique etiological mechanisms and outcomes. Yet, additional research is needed exploring direct relations among dimensions to determine how these relations may contribute to the nature of impulsive personality and its correlates. The current study used network analysis to clarify relations among UPPS-P dimensions and assess global robustness of these relations across young adulthood.

Redundant visual signals reduce the intensity of alcohol impairment.

Background: Humans interact with multiple stimuli across several modalities each day. The "redundant signal effect" refers to the observation that individuals respond more quickly to stimuli when information is presented as multisensory, redundant stimuli (e.g.

Alcohol administration reduces attentional bias to alcohol-related but not food-related cues: Evidence for a satiety hypothesis.

Attentional bias to alcohol is a well-documented effect whereby drinkers allocate greater visual attention toward alcohol-related stimuli rather than nonappetitive, neutral stimuli. Some recent research has shown that acute administration of alcohol temporarily reduces attentional bias to alcohol cues, possibly because alcohol consumption satiates the motivation to drink. However, the specificity of this effect has not been tested, and so it is unclear whether reduced attentional bias following alcohol is specific to alcohol-related stimuli or whether attention to other appetitive stimuli is also reduced (e.

DUI offenders display reduced perception of intoxication and heightened impulsive choice in response to alcohol.

Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol continues to be a major contributor in traffic fatalities. There is growing evidence for heightened trait impulsivity in DUI offenders, but little is known about how impulsivity could interact with alcohol intoxication in a manner that would increase the likelihood of driving while intoxicated. This placebo-controlled study examined the acute effects of 0.

High Risk of Alcohol-Impaired Driving in Adults With Comorbid Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Population.

Objective: Alcohol-impaired driving is a significant source of injury and morbidity in the United States. People with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are more likely to drive while impaired by alcohol than their nonclinical counterparts. Less is known about rates of impaired driving in people with AUD and a comorbid substance use disorder (SUD).

Effects of multisensory stop signals on alcohol-induced disinhibition in adults with ADHD.

Multisensory environments facilitate behavioral functioning in humans. The redundant signal effect (RSE) refers to the observation that individuals respond more quickly to stimuli when information is presented as multisensory, redundant stimuli (e.g.

Measuring heightened attention to alcohol in a naturalistic setting: A validation study.

Attentional bias to alcohol-related stimuli is believed to be an important contributor to the development and maintenance of drug abuse. There is a considerable body of research examining attentional bias, much of which has typically utilized image-display tasks as a means to assess the phenomenon. Little, however, is known about the nature of this bias in an individual's natural environment.

Alcohol-Induced Impairment of Balance is Antagonized by Energy Drinks.

Background: The acute administration of alcohol reliably impairs balance and motor coordination. While it is common for consumers to ingest alcohol with other stimulant drugs (e.g.

Laboratory analysis of risky driving at 0.05% and 0.08% blood alcohol concentration.

Background: The public health costs associated with alcohol-related traffic crashes are a continuing problem for society. One harm reduction strategy has been to employ per se limits for blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at which drivers can legally operate motor vehicles. This limit is currently 0.

Neurophysiological capacity in a working memory task differentiates dependent from nondependent heavy drinkers and controls.

Background: Determining the neurobehavioral profiles that differentiate heavy drinkers who are and are not alcohol dependent will inform treatment efforts. Working memory is linked to substance use disorders and can serve as a representation of the demand placed on the neurophysiology associated with cognitive control.

Methods: Behavior and brain activity (via fMRI) were recorded during an N-Back working memory task in controls (CTRL), nondependent heavy drinkers (A-ND) and dependent heavy drinkers (A-D).

Curbing the DUI offender's self-efficacy to drink and drive: A laboratory study.

Background: People arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are at high risk to reoffend. One reason for this high rate of recidivism among DUI offenders is that these individuals systematically underestimate the degree to which alcohol impairs their ability to drive. This study compared perceived and objective driving ability following alcohol and performance feedback in drivers with and without a history of DUI.

Faster self-paced rate of drinking for alcohol mixed with energy drinks versus alcohol alone.

The consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) has been associated with higher rates of binge drinking and impaired driving when compared with alcohol alone. However, it remains unclear why the risks of use of AmED are heightened compared with alcohol alone even when the doses of alcohol consumed are similar. Therefore, the purpose of this laboratory study was to investigate if the rate of self-paced beverage consumption was faster for a dose of AmED versus alcohol alone using a double-blind, within-subjects, placebo-controlled study design.

Desire to Drink Alcohol is Enhanced with High Caffeine Energy Drink Mixers.

Background: Consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) has been associated with a variety of risks beyond that observed with alcohol alone. Consumers of AmED beverages are more likely to engage in heavy episodic (binge) drinking. This study was to investigate whether the consumption of high caffeine energy drink mixers with alcohol would increase the desire to drink alcohol compared to the same amount of alcohol alone using a double-blind, within-subjects, placebo-controlled study design.

Drivers who self-estimate lower blood alcohol concentrations are riskier drivers after drinking.

Rationale: Alcohol increases the tendency for risky driving in some individuals but not others. Little is known about the factors underlying this individual difference. Studies find that those who underestimate their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) following a dose of alcohol tend to be more impulsive and report greater willingness to drive after drinking than those who estimate their BACs to be greater than their actual BAC.

Multisensory Stop Signals Can Reduce the Disinhibiting Effects of Alcohol in Adults.

Background: Alcohol impairs drinkers' abilities to inhibit inappropriate responses. Certain stimulus conditions have been shown to facilitate behavioral control. Under conditions where individuals are presented with multiple inhibitory signals, the speed and consistency with which they are able to inhibit a response is improved.

Alcohol-related visual cues impede the ability to process auditory information: Seeing but not hearing.

Studies of visual attention find that drinkers spend more time attending to images of alcohol-related stimuli compared to neutral images. It is believed that this attentional bias contributes to the maintenance of alcohol use. However, no research has examined the possibility that this bias of visual attention might actually impede the functioning of other modalities, such as the processing of accompanying auditory stimuli.