Aims: The effects of goal-setting instructions on neuropsychological performance of alcohol-dependent patients and control subjects were assessed.
Methods: 57 alcohol-dependent patients and 59 carefully age- and education-matched healthy control subjects underwent standard neuropsychological investigation. In addition, the goal-setting paradigm was used to systematically manipulate motivation. Participants were requested to calculate simple mathematical problems repeatedly within phases of a 2-min duration receiving normal or goal setting-instructions (to increase performance in the next phase by 20%).
Results: The patients demonstrated deficits in standard neuropsychological tests. Patients under goal-setting instructions demonstrated significantly higher improvement (correct responses: P = 0.016) relative to patients with standard instructions. Control subjects with goal-setting instructions demonstrated tendencies for higher improvement relative to control subjects with normal instructions. However, the differences were not significant. Interaction of group (patients vs. control subjects) and instructions (goal setting vs. normal) remained insignificant (P = 0.489) indicating that the increase through goal setting for the patients was not significantly higher than that for the control subjects.
Conclusions: Despite of neuropsychological deficits in reasoning and psychomotor functioning, alcohol-dependent patients early in recovery are responsive to goal setting and able to increase neuropsychological performance. Therefore, goal-setting strategies might possibly be used in cognitive rehabilitation and therapy of alcohol-dependent patients. As there was no significant interaction in increase between patients and control subjects, our results do not support the hypothesis that the neuropsychological deficits are affected by or even caused by motivational limitations of the alcohol-dependent patients.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agh026 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Screening for Alcohol Use Disorder Among Hospitalised Patients: Learning from a Retrospective Cohort Study in Secondary Care.
J Clin Med
December 2024
Nottingham Digestive Diseases Biomedical Research Centre (NDDC), School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2GT, UK.
Excessive alcohol consumption is among the leading causes of hospitalisation in high-income countries and contributes to over 200 medical conditions. We aimed to determine the prevalence and characteristics of alcohol use disorder (AUD), describe the distribution of AUD in ICD-10 discharge diagnosis groups and ascertain any relationship between them in secondary care. The study group was a retrospective cohort of adult patients admitted to Nottingham University Hospital (NUH) between 4 April 2009 and 31 March 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssociation of altered cortical gyrification and working memory in male early abstinent alcohol-dependent individuals.
Brain Res Bull
January 2025
Mental Health Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China; Department of Neurobiology, Affiliated Mental Health Center & Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310063, China; Liangzhu Laboratory, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-machine Integration, State Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, 1369 West Wenyi Road, Hangzhou 311121, China. Electronic address:
Background: Alcohol dependence (AD) is an addictive disorder with multifaceted neurobiological features. Recent research on the pathophysiological mechanisms of AD has emphasized the important role of dysconnectivity. Cortical gyrification is known to be a reliable marker of neural connectivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrefrontal electrophysiological biomarkers and mechanism-based drug effects in a rat model of alcohol addiction.
Transl Psychiatry
December 2024
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who seek treatment show highly variable outcomes. A precision medicine approach with biomarkers responsive to new treatments is warranted to overcome this limitation. Promising biomarkers relate to prefrontal control mechanisms that are severely disturbed in AUD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuropsychological Abnormalities Associated with Alcohol Dependence During Long-Term Rehabilitation Treatment of German Inpatients.
Brain Sci
November 2024
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, LVR-University Hospital Essen, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Virchowstr. 174, 45147 Essen, Germany.
Background: Alcohol dependence is associated with several neuropsychological abnormalities, such as increased impulsivity or attentional bias towards drug-related stimuli. However, it is debated whether these abnormalities are on the decline after long-term abstinence from alcohol. Inpatient rehabilitation treatment enables the longitudinal investigation of such variables during a long, largely secured, period of abstinence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExploring gut microbiota diurnal fluctuation in alcohol-dependent patients with sleep disturbance.
J Med Microbiol
November 2024
Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, PR China.
Article Synopsis
- Alcohol dependence (AD) and sleep disturbance (SD) both negatively impact gut microbiota, but the interaction between SD and gut flora in AD patients is not well understood.
- This study involved 32 AD patients and 20 healthy controls, analyzing fecal samples throughout the day to explore differences in gut microbiota between AD patients with poor sleep (ADwPS) and good sleep (ADwGS).
- Results showed significant differences in gut microbiota composition and diurnal patterns, with the ADwPS group exhibiting higher anxiety, depression, and greater fluctuation in pathogenic bacteria compared to the ADwGS group.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!