The etiology of fragmentary blackouts: Memory processes and neural activations

描述(由申请人提供)：目前的提案将通过评估清醒和醉酒时的记忆过程来研究有过和没有经历过酒精引起的昏迷的个体的差异，更重要的是，探索清醒和醉酒时与记忆过程相关的神经激活的差异。先前的研究表明，某些人可能比其他人更容易受到酒精引起的昏迷的影响(Baer等人，2003；Hartzler&Fromme，2003)，在酒精暴露后，经历过酒精引起的昏迷的人比没有经历过酒精引起的昏迷的人表现出更大的记忆障碍。为了研究这一现象并更好地了解酒精对大脑的影响，拟议的研究使用了各种方法，包括标准化的酒精管理和功能磁共振成像来进行受试者之间的比较(即有昏迷历史的人与有昏迷历史的人比较)和受试者内部的比较(例如清醒的人与醉酒的人的表现和神经激活)。作为初步发现的复制和扩展，研究1将使用NIAAA资助的一项研究的参与者来评估饮酒前后的记忆表现(即饮酒与不饮酒)。根据研究1的发现，研究2将使用来源记忆任务和标准化的酒精注射，并进行功能磁共振成像。具体地说，研究2将(A)评估标准化酒精管理对源记忆任务中的行为表现和神经激活的影响；(B)检查酒精诱导的停电对与编码和提取相关的神经活动的影响；(C)评估前额叶调节的策略性记忆过程(即源记忆)，以了解有酒精诱导停电历史的个体的酒精损害是否更严重。这项拟议的研究与公共健康相关，因为大学生饮酒比其他任何药物都多，而且似乎特别容易受到与饮酒相关的负面后果的影响。此外，对酒精引起的昏迷的研究有限，拟议中的研究将利用成像技术和标准化的酒精给药方法，更好地了解酒精诱发昏迷的潜在机制，以及急性酒精暴露导致的脑功能变化。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The current proposal will examine the differences in individuals who have and have not experienced an alcohol-induced blackout by assessing memory processes when sober and intoxicated, and more importantly, explore the differences in neural activations associated with memory processes when sober and intoxicated. Previous research indicates that certain individuals may be more vulnerable to alcohol-induced blackouts than others (Baer et al., 2003; Hartzler & Fromme, 2003), and after alcohol exposure, individuals who have experienced an alcohol-induced blackout show greater memory impairments than those who have not experienced alcohol-induced blackouts. To examine this phenomenon and to better understand alcohol's effects on the brain, the proposed research uses a variety of methods, including standardized alcohol administrations and fMRI to make between-subjects comparisons, (i.e. blackout history positive versus blackout history negative) and within-subject comparisons (e.g. sober versus intoxicated performance and neural activations). As a replication and extension of preliminary findings, Study 1 will use participants from a NIAAA-funded study to assess memory performance before and after an alcohol administration (i.e., alcohol vs. no alcohol). Based on the findings from Study 1, Study 2 will use a source memory task and a standardized alcohol administration with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Specifically, Study 2 will (a) evaluate the effect of a standardized alcohol administration on behavioral performance and neural activation during source memory tasks; (b) examine the influence of alcohol-induced blackouts on the neural activity associated with both encoding and retrieval; (c) evaluate prefrontally mediated strategic memory processes (i.e., source memory) to see whether alcohol impairments are more severe in individuals with a history of alcohol-induced blackouts. The proposed research is relevant to public health because college students use alcohol more than any other drug and appear to be particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences associated with alcohol use. Furthermore, research is limited on alcohol-induced blackouts, and the proposed research will provide a better understanding of mechanisms underlying alcohol-induced blackouts and changes in brain function as a result of acute alcohol exposure using imaging technology and a standardized alcohol administrations.