Behavioral Dysregulation and Alcohol Sensitivity in Risky Drivers

描述（由申请人提供）：与酒精相关的交通死亡和伤害仍然是一个主要的公共卫生问题，因此需要开展旨在识别酒后驾车司机特征的研究，以努力改善治疗和预防。尽管酒后驾车罪犯报告有冲动特征，表明抑制控制能力差和奖励敏感性增强，但这种行为失调背后的具体认知特征尚未在实验室进行系统研究。该申请的首要假设是，抑制控制不足和对酒精去抑制作用的敏感性增加会增加酒后驾车的风险，并可能导致累犯。拟议的项目从认知功能障碍的角度看待酒后驾车罪犯，针对特定行为调节机制的缺陷。该研究将直接评估酒后驾车累犯的驾驶表现和自我调节机制（例如，抑制控制、寻求奖励），并将检验以下假设：这些高风险驾驶员对酒精的反应不同，会增加抑制解除和冒险行为，以及这些因素会影响他们酒后驾车的决定。该应用代表了最先进的评估和技术的创新应用，旨在识别危险驾驶行为背后的特定神经认知特征，并可能成为治疗和预防的候选机制。该项目的目标与最近的 NIH 资助机会公告 (PA-10-255) 非常契合，即酒精依赖和相关表型的行为调节机制，旨在促进酒精对涉及冲动控制的神经认知机制的影响的研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alcohol-related traffic fatality and injury continue to be a major public health problem, prompting the need for research aimed at identifying characteristics of DUI drivers in efforts to improve treatment and prevention. Although DUI offenders report traits of impulsivity, suggesting poor inhibitory control and heightened reward sensitivity, the specific cognitive characteristics underlying such behavioral dysregulation have not been systematically studied in the laboratory. The over-arching hypothesis of this application is that deficient inhibitory control and increased sensitivity to the disinhibiting effects of alcool contribute to the risk of DUI, and possibly to its recidivism. The proposed project views DUI offenders from a cognitive dysfunction perspective that targets deficits in specific mechanisms of behavioral regulation. The research will directly evaluate driving performance and mechanisms of self-regulation (e.g., inhibitory control, reward-seeking) in recidivist DUI offenders and will test hypotheses that these high-risk drivers respond differently to alcohol, wit increased disinhibition and risk-taking, and that these factors contribute to their decisions to drive after drinking. The application represents an innovative application of state-of-the-art assessments and techniques to identify the specific neurocognitive characteristics that underlie risky driving behavior, and which could be candidate mechanisms for treatment and prevention. The project aims fit well with the recent NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement (PA-10-255), Behavioral Regulation Mechanisms of Alcohol Dependence and Related Phenotypes aimed at promoting research on the effects of alcohol on neurocognitive mechanisms implicated in impulse control.