Journal article
Acute effects of alcohol on error-elicited negative affect during a cognitive control task
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol.237(11), pp.3383-3397
11/01/2020
DOI: 10.1007/s00213-020-05619-4
PMCID: 7572864
PMID: 32944790
Abstract
Rationale Alcohol intoxication can dampen negative affective reactions to stressors. Recently, it has been proposed that these acute anxiolytic effects of alcohol may extend to dampening of negative affective reactions to error commission during cognitive control tasks. Nonetheless, empirical verification of this claim is lacking. Objectives Test the acute effect of alcohol on negative affective reactions to errors during an effort-demanding cognitive control task. Methods Healthy, young adult social drinkers (N = 96 [49 women], 21-36 years old) were randomly assigned to consume alcohol (0.80 g/kg;n = 33 [15 female]), active placebo (0.04 g/kg;n = 33 [18 women]), or a non-alcoholic control beverage (n = 30 [16 women]) before completing the Eriksen flanker task. Corrugator supercilii (Corr) activation, a psychophysiological index of negative affect, was tracked across the task. Two neurophysiological reactions to errors, the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe), were also measured. Results Erroneous actions increased Corr activation in the control and (to a lesser extent) placebo groups, but not in the alcohol group. Error-induced Corr activation was coupled to ERN and Pe in the control, but not in the alcohol and placebo groups. Error-induced Corr activation was not coupled to post-error performance adjustments in any group. Conclusions The ability of alcohol to dampen error-related negative affect was verified. It was also shown that placebo alone can disrupt coupling of affective and (neuro)cognitive reactions to errors. Although its behavioral relevance remains to be demonstrated, more attention should be paid to the role of affect in action monitoring and cognitive control processes.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Acute effects of alcohol on error-elicited negative affect during a cognitive control task
- Creators
- Roberto U. Cofresi - University of MissouriBruce D. Bartholow - University of Missouri
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, Vol.237(11), pp.3383-3397
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00213-020-05619-4
- PMID
- 32944790
- PMCID
- 7572864
- NLM abbreviation
- Psychopharmacology (Berl)
- ISSN
- 0033-3158
- eISSN
- 1432-2072
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 15
- Grant note
- University of Missouri College of Arts & Science Mission Enhancement Fund (RUC) AA017282; AA025451; AA013526 / NIH; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/01/2020
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984446277102771
Metrics
15 Record Views