Cognitive control deficits in alcoholism risk

描述（由申请人提供）：急性酒精中毒经常导致各种形式的失调反应，包括攻击，性行为和其他冒险行为，情绪反应的改变，甚至对酒精使用本身的明显暂时失控。酒精中毒导致这些失调反应的许多例子的特点是强烈的，但不适当的，反应倾向和不相容的替代反应，更适应但更弱之间的冲突。类似地，酒精依赖者经常经历围绕他们的酒精使用的冲突或矛盾心理，初步证据表明，他们可能会受损的注意力功能，这是必要的，以适应性地解决围绕他们的酒精使用的冲突。事实上，许多理论家推测，酒精挑战的急性效应的注意力机制也可能在物质使用和其他外化障碍的个体中受到慢性损害。此外，注意力受损可能是一种发病前的病因学风险机制，它导致有酗酒家族史的个体发生酒精使用障碍的风险增加。本研究的目的是确认和澄清酒精挑战和酒精中毒家族史对注意功能的影响的性质，并检查潜在损害的后果，为调节行为和情绪反应。最近的理论和基础认知神经科学研究有显着进步和完善，了解注意力过程和潜在的神经生物学结构，这是必要的行为和情绪反应的适应性调节在冲突期间。这项基础研究已经确定了注意力系统的离散功能，包括维持警觉状态、感觉定向和负责控制认知操作的执行控制功能。特别是，执行控制注意力（和子组件;评估和调节控制）是至关重要的，以克服情境适应不良，强烈和/或习惯性的反应。这一理论和研究为醉酒和家族史阳性个体的注意功能研究提供了基础。五个拟议的实验将使用电生理措施（例如，事件相关脑电位）和设计用于系统地索引注意功能的离散成分的充分验证的认知范例。这将允许调解测试，以确定预测的酒精挑战和酗酒家族史对行为和情绪调节的影响是否是注意力功能受损的结果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Acute alcohol intoxication frequently results in various forms of dysregulated responding including aggression, sexual and other risk taking, alterations in emotional response, and even apparent temporary loss of control over alcohol use itself. Many examples in which alcohol intoxication results in these dysregulated responses are characterized by conflict between strong, but inappropriate, response tendencies and incompatible alternative responses that are more adaptive yet weaker. Similarly, alcohol dependent users frequently experience conflict or ambivalence surrounding their alcohol use and preliminary evidence suggests that they may be impaired in the attention functions that are necessary to adaptively resolve conflict surrounding their alcohol use. In fact, many theorists have speculated that the same attention mechanisms that account for the acute effects of alcohol challenge may also be chronically impaired in individuals with substance use and other externalizing disorders. Moreover, impaired attention may represent a premorbid etiological risk mechanism which accounts for the increased risk for alcohol use disorders among individuals with a family history of alcoholism. The aim of this research is to confirm and clarify the nature of alcohol challenge and alcoholism family history effects on attention function and to examine the consequences of potential impairment for the regulation of behavior and emotion responding. Recent theory and basic cognitive neuroscience research has significantly advanced and refined , understanding about the attention processes and underlying neurobiological structures that are necessary for the adaptive regulation of behavior and emotional response during conflict. This basic research has identified discrete functions of the attention system including maintenance of an alert state, sensory orienting, and executive control function responsible for the control of cognitive operations. In particular, executive control attention (and sub-components; evaluative and regulative control) are crucial to overcome contextually maladaptive, strong and/or habitual responding. This theory and research provides the foundation for the proposed research on attention function in intoxicated and family history positive individuals. The five proposed experiments will use electro-physiological measures (e.g., event related brain potentials) and well-validated cognitive paradigms designed to systematically index discrete components of attention function. This will allow mediation tests to determine if predicted alcohol challenge and family history of alcoholism effects on behavior and emotion regulation are the result of impaired attention function.