Redundant Signal Effect and Alcohol Impairment of Behavioral Inhibition in ADHD

描述(由申请人提供)：酒精已被可靠地证明会损害与日常活动相关的一系列行为的表现。在需要将注意力分散到多个刺激的环境中，这种损害尤其明显。然而，在某些情况下，多个刺激的呈现实际上可以促进表现。冗余信号效应是指当信息被呈现为冗余的双峰刺激(例如，视觉和听觉)而不是单独呈现给任一模式的单一刺激时，个体做出更快、更准确的反应的现象。此外，最近的研究表明，多余刺激的存在可以减少酒精对执行反应能力的影响。然而，尚不清楚的是，冗余抑制信号的存在是否会减少酒精对抑制控制的损害作用。众所周知，酒精对行为的抑制作用是众所周知的，研究表明，抑制作用减弱可能会促进过度、狂饮，从而导致酒精滥用。因此，确定冗余的抑制信号在多大程度上降低了酒精对抑制控制的影响是很重要的。此外，确定这些信号在多大程度上可以改善酒精滥用高危个体的抑制控制也是很重要的，例如那些以抑制行为能力的慢性缺陷为特征的人，比如那些患有注意力缺陷/多动障碍(ADHD)的人。这项拟议的研究将检验多余的抑制信号对ADHD患者和一组健康成年人的抑制控制的影响。此外，该项目将确定在这两组人中，多余的抑制信号在多大程度上降低了酒精的解除抑制效果。鉴于日常感知是多感官的，本研究通过评估酒精对多感官刺激对行为抑制机制的影响，为饮酒者提供了一个真实世界环境的独特模型。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alcohol has been reliably shown to impair performance on a wide range of behaviors relevant for everyday activities. This impairment is especially pronounced in environments that require dividing attention across multiple stimuli. However, under certain circumstances, the presentation of multiple stimuli can actually facilitate performance. The redundant signal effect refers to the phenomenon by which individuals respond more quickly and accurately when information is presented as redundant, bimodal stimuli (e.g., visually and aurally), rather than as a single stimulus presented to either modalit alone. Moreover, recent research has shown that the presence of redundant stimuli can reduce alcohol's impairing effects on the ability to execute responses. What is not known, however, is whether the presence of redundant inhibitory signals might reduce alcohol's impairing effects on inhibitory control. Alcohol is well-known for its disinhibiting effects on behavior, and studies suggest that impaired inhibition might contribute to alcohol abuse by promoting excessive, binge drinking. Therefore, it is important to determine the degree to which redundant inhibitory signals reduce the effects of alcohol on inhibitory control. Moreover, it is also important to determine th degree to which these signals might improve inhibitory control in individuals at-risk for alcohol abuse, such as those characterized by chronic deficits in the ability to inhibit behavior, such as those with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The proposed research will examine the effects of redundant inhibitory signals on inhibitory control in individuals with ADHD and a comparison group of healthy adults. Moreover, the project will determine the degree to which redundant inhibitory signals reduce the disinhibiting effects of alcohol in these two groups. Given that everyday perception is multisensory, the present study provides a unique model of drinkers realworld environments by assessing alcohol's effects on inhibitory mechanisms of behavior in response to multisensory stimuli.