Alcohol words elicit reactive cognitive control in low-sensitivity drinkers

Kira Bailey; Bruce D Bartholow

doi:10.1111/psyp.12741

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Alcohol words elicit reactive cognitive control in low-sensitivity drinkers

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Alcohol words elicit reactive cognitive control in low-sensitivity drinkers

Kira Bailey and Bruce D Bartholow

Psychophysiology, Vol.53(11), pp.1751-1759

11/2016

DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12741

PMCID: PMC5061613

PMID: 27545019

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/5061613View

Open Access

Abstract

Previous ERP studies shown support for the idea that alcohol-related stimuli are particularly salient to individuals who report low sensitivity (LS) to alcohol's effects (a known risk factor for alcohol-related problems), leading such stimuli to spontaneously capture their attention and interfere with self-regulatory goal pursuit. The current study investigated LS individuals' use of reactive and proactive cognitive control in response to alcohol-related stimuli. Participants performed an alcohol Stroop task in which they indicated the font color of alcohol- and nonalcohol-related words while ERPs were recorded. The probability of alcohol and nonalcohol words was manipulated to test predictions derived from Dual Mechanisms of Control theory. Among LS individuals, infrequent alcohol-related words elicited slower responses and larger N2 amplitude, consistent with these stimuli eliciting enhanced reactive control responses. Amplitude of the frontal slow wave (FSW) component, associated with proactive control, was marginally larger among LS individuals when alcohol words were more frequent, but response accuracy was lower. These findings demonstrate that LS individuals experience conflict when presented with task-irrelevant alcohol-related stimuli, even in a context where conflict arguably should not be present. Findings further suggest that LS individuals can effectively implement reactive control to deal with this conflict when it is infrequent but have difficulty implementing proactive control in the context of more frequent conflict.

Adolescent

Adult

Alcohol Drinking - psychology

Attention

Cerebral Cortex - physiology

Conflict (Psychology)

Electroencephalography

Evoked Potentials

Executive Function - physiology

Female

Humans

Male

Models, Psychological

Reaction Time

Stroop Test

Young Adult

Details

Title: Subtitle: Alcohol words elicit reactive cognitive control in low-sensitivity drinkers
Creators: Kira Bailey - Ohio Wesleyan University
Bruce D Bartholow - University of Missouri
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Psychophysiology, Vol.53(11), pp.1751-1759
DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12741
PMID: 27545019
PMCID: PMC5061613
NLM abbreviation: Psychophysiology
ISSN: 0048-5772
eISSN: 1540-5958
Grant note: R01 AA020970 / NIAAA NIH HHS P60 AA011998 / NIAAA NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 11/2016
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984446420802771

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15 Times Cited - Web of Science