Excessive alcohol use (i.e., a binge) contributes to many adverse health consequences (e.g., alcohol poisoning, acute alcoholic hepatitis and live cirrhosis). Alcohol is well-known for its acute impairing effects on neurocognitive processes involved in the regulation of behavior and attention. Yet, little research has examined how such disturbances might reduce self-control over actual alcohol use, leading to patternsof abusive drinking (e.g., binge drinking). Given that even mild doses of alcohol impair control of behavior and attention, it is important to understand how acute intoxication can reduce control over alcohol intake once a drinking episode has begun. The proposed project is basedon the hypothesis that abuse potential of alcohol is determined by its reward-enhancing effects and its disruptive effects on control mechanisms. Experiments will examine non-dependent adults and will test the disruptive effects of alcohol on neurocognitive control mechanisms in relation to two characteristics associated with increased alcohol abuse: 1) alcohol-induced priming of self-administration; 2) the development of alcohol tolerance. Studies examine the effects of controlled doses of alcohol on neurocognitive performance tasks that measure inhibitory and activational aspects of control. The measures will be studied in relation to alcohol-induced priming of self-administration and in the development of learned alcohol tolerance. The findings will provide an understanding of how drinkers' susceptibility to alcohol's acute behavioral-impairing effects can pose an early-onset risk factor for later alcohol dependence by promoting a continued pattern of abusive binge drinking. The research strategies also will provide methods for testing the role of neurocognitive mechanisms in the treatment efficacy of existing pharmacotherapies, such as naltrexone and acamprosate, as well as some investigational medications that might operate via neurocognitive control mechanisms:
| Roberts, Walter; Milich, Richard; Fillmore, Mark T (2016) The Effects of Preresponse Cues on Inhibitory Control and Response Time in Adults With ADHD. J Atten Disord 20:317-24 |
| Roberts, Walter; Miller, Melissa A; Weafer, Jessica et al. (2014) Heavy drinking and the role of inhibitory control of attention. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 22:133-40 |
| Weafer, Jessica; Fillmore, Mark T (2013) Acute alcohol effects on attentional bias in heavy and moderate drinkers. Psychol Addict Behav 27:32-41 |
| Miller, Melissa A; Hays, Lon R; Fillmore, Mark T (2012) Lack of tolerance to the disinhibiting effects of alcohol in heavy drinkers. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 224:511-8 |
| Weafer, Jessica; Fillmore, Mark T (2012) Alcohol-related stimuli reduce inhibitory control of behavior in drinkers. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 222:489-98 |
| Weafer, Jessica; Fillmore, Mark T (2012) Comparison of alcohol impairment of behavioral and attentional inhibition. Drug Alcohol Depend 126:176-82 |
| Roberts, Walter; Fillmore, Mark T; Milich, Richard (2012) Drinking to distraction: does alcohol increase attentional bias in adults with ADHD? Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 20:107-17 |
| Roberts, Walter; Milich, Richard; Fillmore, Mark T (2012) Constraints on information processing capacity in adults with ADHD. Neuropsychology 26:695-703 |
| Weafer, Jessica; Fillmore, Mark T (2012) Acute tolerance to alcohol impairment of behavioral and cognitive mechanisms related to driving: drinking and driving on the descending limb. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 220:697-706 |
| Fillmore, Mark T; Weafer, Jessica (2012) Acute tolerance to alcohol in at-risk binge drinkers. Psychol Addict Behav 26:693-702 |
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