The effects of acute alcohol on psychomotor, set-shifting, and working memory performance in older men and women

Abstract

A limited number of publications have documented the effects of acute alcohol administration among older adults. Among these, only a few have investigated sex differences within this population. The current project examined the behavioral effects of acute low- and moderate-dose alcohol on 62 older (ages 55–70) male and female, healthy, light to moderate drinkers. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three dose conditions: placebo (peak breath alcohol concentration [BrAC] of 0 mg/dL), low (peak BrAC of 40 mg/dL), and moderate (peak BrAC of 65 mg/dL). Tasks assessed psychomotor, set-shifting, and working memory performance. Better set-shifting abilities were observed among women, whereas men demonstrated more efficient working memory, regardless of dose. The moderate-dose group did not significantly differ from the placebo group on any task. However, the low-dose group performed better than the moderate-dose group across measures of set shifting and working memory. Relative to the placebo group, the low-dose group exhibited better working memory, specifically for faces. Interestingly, there were no sex by dose interactions. These data suggest that, at least for our study’s task demands, low and moderate doses of alcohol do not significantly hinder psychomotor, set-shifting, or working memory performance among older adults. In fact, low-dose alcohol may facilitate certain cognitive abilities. Furthermore, although sex differences in cognitive abilities were observed, these alcohol doses did not differentially affect men and women. Further investigation is necessary to better characterize the effects of sex and alcohol dose on cognition in older adults.

Alcohol Doesn’t Always Compromise Cognitive Function: Exploring Moderate Doses in Young Adults

“…The dependent variable was efficiency (calculated as % accurate / mean reaction time for accurate trials). This process-oriented measure is demonstrated to be relatively stable for a given participant and task (Thorne, 2006) and has been used effectively in our previous investigations (e.g., Hoffman et al, 2015;Sklar et al, 2012).…”

“…It is a laboratory assessment that demonstrates sensitivity for measuring working memory processes (Gazzaley et al, 2005a). Our previous work revealed dose and sex effects with this task for a different sample of moderate drinkers (Hoffman et al, 2015). The dependent variable was efficiency (calculated as % accurate / mean reaction time for accurate trials).…”

“…After each set, a fixation cross was presented (9 seconds), followed by a condition-relevant probe (face or scene). Thereafter, participants indicated if the probe was absent or present in the preceding set (see Hoffman et al, 2015, for detailed WMT parameters). Participants were informed that accuracy and speed were equally important.…”

“…Working memory was assessed via a visual remember/ignore task (working memory task [WMT]; Gazzaley et al, 2005b). Our laboratory has shown that these tasks are sensitive to lowand moderate-dose alcohol's effects in other samples (e.g., Gilbertson et al, 2009;Hoffman et al, 2015).…”

“…Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, guidelines) within a restricted age range. Target BrACs were 0 mg/dl (placebo), 40 mg/dl (low dose), and 65 mg/dl (moderate dose), which have produced differential effects in other cohorts (Gilbertson et al, 2009;Hoffman et al, 2015). Psychomotor, set-shifting, and working memory functions were investigated.…”