Alcohol impairs visual presence/absence detection more for females than for males

Abstract

Ninety subjects (45 males, 45 females) were given 0.0, 0.5, or 1.0 ml/kg body weight of 190-proofethanol and tested for chance-level presence/absence detection thresholds with energy-masked presentations of traffic signs and blank inputs. Alcohol produced higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels, and higher detection threshold durations, for females than for males. These results indicate that alcohol influences precortical visual processing and that the influence is greater for females than for males. The higher bioavailability of alcohol in women is likely due to less gastric oxidation of ethanol in women than in men. Hills (1980) estimated that over 90% of the information input to the driver of an automobile is visual. The importance of understanding the effects of alcohol on vision should not be underestimated; however, the literature presents conflicting claims about the influence of alcohol on vision. Between 1940 and1984, at least eight literature reviews indicated that perception was minimally affected by alcohol (Carpenter, 1961;Grant, 1970;Jellinek & McFarland, 1940;Jones & Joscelyn, 1978;Marshall, 1941;Moskowitz, 1974;Voas, 1984;Wallgren & Barry, 1970). In their discussion of the neuropsychology of alcoholism, Tarter and Edwards (1985, p. 220) concluded that' 'the investigations conducted to date do not reveal a disturbance in basic perceptual processes." Similar conclusions have been offered in discussions of alcohol and central nervous system function (e.g., Mitchell, 1985), pharmacology (e.g., Pohorecky & Brick, 1988;Ritchie, 1985), neuropathology (e.g., Freund, 1985), and brain biochemistry (e.g., Hoffman & Tabakoff, 1985). These reviews leave little reason to expect peripheral (precortical) visual processing to be impaired by moderate doses of alcohol. Other studies suggest, however, that it may be premature to consider even retinal processes immune to the effects of alcohol. For example, alcohol has been reported to influence the action of certain neurotransmitters (e.g., Carmichael & Isreal, 1975;Kalant & Grose, 1967), the b-wave and c-wave of the electroretinogram (e.g., Ikeda, 1963;Skoog, 1974) 2851988), and recovery from the effects of glare and contrast sensitivity (e.g., Adams, 1978;Adams, Brown, & Flom, 1976).The visual masking procedure has not been used to examine the effects of alcohol on vision. Turvey (1973) has shown, however, that the procedure can distinguish between peripheral (precortical) and central (cortical) processing. To obtain masking in the peripheral visual system, the mask must be of greater energy than the target item, and the mask and target must be presented to the same eye. Such masking can function in both a forward and a backward direction. Central pattern masking can be obtained whether the target and mask inputs are to the same or to different eyes. It is governed by stimulus onset asynchrony between target and mask rather than by the energy relationship between the two. It functions primarily in a backward manner, and it requires some pattern similarity...

Effects of sex and deletion of neuropeptide Y2 receptors from GABAergic neurons on affective and alcohol drinking behaviors in mice

“…In contrast, in humans, men binge drink more often and in greater excess than women. However, women have smaller gastric ethanol metabolism and less body water volume than men (Marshall et al, 1983; Baraona et al, 2001), leading to higher BECs and greater behavioral effects from the same dose of acute ethanol (Avant, 1990; Frezza et al, 1990; Ammon et al, 1996). As such, women are far more likely to become impaired, suffer greater organ and morphological brain changes, and develop comorbid medical conditions from ethanol consumption (Krasner et al, 1977; Eckardt et al, 1981; Urbano-Marquez et al, 1995; Key et al, 2006; Medina et al, 2008; Squeglia et al, 2012).…”

Gender Differences in Alcohol Impairment of Simulated Driving Performance and Driving-Related Skills

“…For example, one study reported that alcohol increased the detection thresholds for visual stimuli to a greater degree in women compared with men (e.g. Avant, 1990). Studies of alcohol effects on short-and long-term memory also report that women display greater alcohol-induced impairments of immediate and delayed recall compared with their male counterparts Jones, 1976, 1977;Niaura et al, 1987;Haut et al, 1989).…”

Effects of Alcohol on Rotary Pursuit Performance: A Gender Comparison

“…Hindmarch et al (1991), using a cognitivebehavioral battery of tests, found males more impaired than females on some tasks, with no differences in other tasks. In contrast, Avant (1990) found that females were more impaired by alcohol in a visual detection task than males. Cherpitel (1996) reported that whereas 3109 alcohol-related emergency-room visits were more frequently violence-related among men, a greater proportion of women compared to men suffered injuries related to falls or motor vehicle accidents.…”