Response inhibition in alcohol-dependent patients and patients with depression/anxiety: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Abstract

The three groups did not differ on response inhibition performance. However, AD severity, but not D/A severity, was positively associated with decreased response inhibition. During the SST, AD patients showed hyperactivity in the putamen and thalamus compared with D/A patients and HCs. Thalamus activation was negatively associated with AD duration. In addition, AD patients showed hypoactivity in the supplementary motor area (SMA) compared with HCs. SMA activity within HCs was negatively correlated with depressive symptom severity. Discussion In general, AD patients were not more impulsive than D/A patients or HCs but they did reveal inhibition impairments with increasing AD severity. A shift from cortical to subcortical engagement in AD patients during response inhibition may represent an alternative strategy, which decreased with longer drinking history, suggesting the presence of an AD-specific endophenotype.

Decreased gray matter volume in inferior frontal gyrus is related to stop-signal task performance in alcohol-dependent patients

“…The lack of a control group in our behavioral data does not allow us to make any claim about dysfunctional impulsive behavior or pathological inhibition in AD. Nevertheless, the RT data on the stop-signal task were comparable to data from previous studies of alcohol dependence (e.g., Li et al, 2009;Sjoerds et al, 2014), and the analysis of interest in the current article was the correlation of response inhibition and local GMV in AD patients and not in controls. That is, stop-signal performance was used to provide functional meaning to the brain atrophy found in AD patients only.…”

“…Also, moderate/heavy alcohol users differed neither in behavioral performance (SSRT and RTs on go trials) nor in prefrontal cortical activation during inhibitory control versus non/light users . Moreover, studies comparing AD patients with healthy controls on stop-signal task performance did not find the hypothesized behavioral differences in SSRTs Sjoerds et al, 2014), although one study reported slower RTs on go trials ). Given our current findings that local GMV in IFG and RTs on go trials are associated, it may be that only patients with atrophies in the IFG are affected on the stop-signal task, which may not be the case for all AD patients.…”

Age and impulsive behavior in drug addiction: A review of past research and future directions

“…More studies have been conducted in participants with a mean age greater than 40 years in the area of prepotent response inhibition, although there is scarcity in research in samples older than age of 50. In these studies, a significant association has been shown between performance in the prepotent response inhibition tasks and cocaine (Parvaz et al, 2012; Hester et al, 2007) and alcohol dependence (Sjoerds et al, 2014; Thoma et al, 2007; Lawrence et al, 2009; Goudriaan et al, 2006), and no significant effects have been found for heroin use (Liang et al, 2014; Yang et al, 2009). Research in older samples exists to a very limited extent, warranting future research about how impulsive behavior changes with normal aging and its effects on drug use.…”

“…Deficits in response inhibition have been shown in individuals with alcohol (Sjoerds et al 2014) and cocaine dependence (Ersche et al 2011; Fernández-Serrano et al 2012; Kaufman et al 2003). However, as it is depicted in Figure 1, previous research has rarely investigated older adult samples.…”

Endophenotypes for Alcohol Use Disorder: An Update on the Field

“…EF refer to an interrelated set of self-regulatory skills and abilities related to goal-directed behavior [74] including attention, working memory, planning, and cognitive flexibility. EF share a highly heritable (99%) common factor [75] and alcohol dependence severity is associated with impaired EF [76]. These EF impairments among alcohol dependent individuals are to be expected given the toxic effects that alcohol has on the frontal lobes; however, it has been proposed that these EF deficits may predate the onset of disorder and qualify as an endophenotype [77].…”