Alcohol Effects on Performance Monitoring: Affective and Cognitive Components

描述(由申请人提供)：饮酒会导致许多行为问题，包括事故风险增加、人际冲突和危险决策。理论和研究指出，酒精对高级认知过程的影响，以及药物对情绪调节的影响，都是其行为影响的原因。最近的研究表明，酒精限制了监控正在进行的表现并在必要时进行调整的能力，表现为与处理表现错误(即错误相关负波，或ERN)相关的头皮记录脑电位的幅度降低。目前对这种效应的解释是，酒精限制了错误被检测到的程度(即认知影响)，导致饮酒者坚持不适应行为。当前项目的目标是测试一项研究计划的可行性，该计划旨在了解与酒精相关的表现监测和调整缺陷，以及其他相关现象，包括药物对认知和情感的交互影响。具体地说，研究提出，酒精减少皮层错误信号的大小，不是因为饮酒后不会注意到表现错误，而是因为酒精减少了通常与错误委托相关的负面影响。两个实验被用来测试该项目的具体目标，其中包括：(1)测试酒精对ERN影响的错误检测解释；(2)测试酒精对表现监控的其他方面的影响，特别是错误积极度(Pe)；(3)测试酒精对错误情绪反应和消极表现反馈的影响；以及(4)测试酒精对行为调整的影响，这是错误加工受损和消极情绪减少的综合作用。这两个实验的参与者将被分配在完成一项需要快速、强迫选择的认知任务之前，饮用一种酒精饮料或两种对照饮料中的一种。在整个实验过程中，将使用表面电极评估错误监测和情感反应的电生理指标。第一个实验将是最近一项研究的概念性复制，在该研究中，证实了酒精对ERN的影响，但在每次试验中都增加了一项主观操作准确性测量。第二个实验将涉及一种试错学习范式，参与者必须通过每次实验后收到的反馈来学习适当的刺激反应。这些实验将为项目的具体目标和总体目标提供一致的证据。该项目的结果将对理解为什么醉酒的人经常从事并坚持不适应行为具有重要意义，这可能会为干预提供途径。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alcohol consumption leads to a number of behavioral problems, including increased risk of accidents, interpersonal conflict, and risky decision-making. Theory and research point to alcohol's effects on higher-level cognitive processes, as well as effects of the drug on regulation of emotion, as responsible for its behavioral effects. Recent research has shown that alcohol limits the ability to monitor ongoing performance and make adjustments when necessary, manifest as reduced amplitude of scalp-recorded brain potentials associated with the processing of performance errors (i.e., the error-related negativity, or ERN). The current explanation for this effect is that alcohol limits the extent to which errors are detected (i.e., a cognitive effect), leading drinkers to persist in maladaptive behaviors. The objective of the current project is to test the feasibility of a program of research aimed at understanding alcohol-related deficits in performance monitoring and adjustment, as well as other, related phenomena, in terms of the drug's interactive effects on both cognition and affect. Specifically, it is proposed that alcohol reduces the size of cortical error signals not because performance errors go unnoticed following alcohol consumption, but because alcohol reduces the negative affect typically associated with error commission. Two experiments are proposed to test the specific aims of the project, which include (1) testing the error-detection account of alcohol's effects on the ERN against an alternative, affect-modulation account; (2) testing the effects of alcohol on other aspects of performance monitoring reflected in different brain potentials, particularly the error positivity (Pe); (3) testing the effects of alcohol on affective reactions to errors and negative performance feedback; and (4) testing the effects of alcohol on behavioral adjustment as a combined function of impaired error processing and reduced negative affect. Participants in both experiments will be assigned to consume either an alcohol beverage or one of two control beverages prior to completion of a cognitive task requiring quick, forced-choice decisions. Electrophysiological indices of error monitoring and affective reactions will be assessed throughout the experiments using surface electrodes. The first experiment will be a conceptual replication of a recent study in which effects of alcohol on the ERN were demonstrated, but with the addition of a subjective performance accuracy measure accompanying each trial. The second experiment will involve a trial-and-error learning paradigm in which participants must learn appropriate stimulus responses via feedback received after every trial. These experiments together will provide convergent evidence related to the specific aims and overall objective of the project. The outcome of this project will have important implications for understanding why intoxicated individuals often engage and persist in maladaptive behaviors, which could suggest avenues for intervention.