Understanding a neurocognitive marker of alcohol cue salience: A combined laboratory-ambulatory investigation

Alcohol cue salience is considered core to the broader understanding of drinking behaviors. In the present research, I sought to build the knowledge of alcohol cue salience by exploring P3 responses to alcohol images among social and problem drinkers, in the context of both ambulatory and laboratory designs. In Study 1, social drinkers (N=246) were randomly assigned to receive either a moderate dose of alcohol or a non-alcoholic control beverage. Following beverage administration, participants engaged in image-viewing tasks while EEG was recorded. We examined the impact of alcohol on the amplitude of P3 responses to pictures of alcoholic vs. non-alcoholic beverages, exploring both beverage-manipulation and individual-difference moderators of these effects. Results revealed a significant effect of acute alcohol intoxication on P3 responses across stimulus types, with the overall amplitude of P3 being significantly smaller among participants consuming alcohol vs. a non-alcoholic beverage. In addition, results revealed a significant main effect of image type, such that P3 amplitude was larger for alcohol images compared to non-alcohol images. No interactions emerged between stimulus type and beverage condition or stimulus type and AUD risk level. In Study 2, individuals who endorsed symptoms of alcohol use disorder (N=60) engaged in fourteen days of ambulatory assessment outside the laboratory and participated in a laboratory image-viewing tasks while EEG was recorded. Participants wore a transdermal alcohol sensor and provided daily self-reports of their drinking 8X/day throughout the ambulatory assessment period. Results revealed a significant effect of stimulus type on P3 amplitude, with the overall amplitude of P3 being significantly larger for alcohol images compared to non-alcoholic beverage images. This effect was larger among individuals with moderate or severe AUD vs. among individuals who did not meet criteria for an AUD, as well as among those with milder forms of AUD. Furthermore, while no interactions emerged between stimulus type and retrospective self-report measures of alcohol consumption levels, both transdermal and self-report measures of ambulatory assessment revealed that elevated P3 alcohol cue salience was observed among individuals demonstrating more frequent alcohol use. Further, when binge drinking was assessed via objective transdermal means, elevated P3 sensitivity to alcohol beverage cues was observed among individuals demonstrating more frequent binge drinking behavior. In contrast, when self-reports from the ambulatory assessment period were examined, this effect did not reach significance. In summary, the current research expanded our understanding of both individual and contextual moderators of alcohol cue salience in samples consisting of both social drinkers and also individuals with AUD. Results highlight the importance of considering contextual factors—as well as individual differences—in basic neurocognitive addiction science. Further, the current research may provide initial findings that individuals with heavier drinking patterns, and also more severe presentations of AUD, may display distinctive neurocognitive signatures in response to alcohol cues.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Kang, Dahyeon

Contributors dc:contributor

• Fairbairn, Catharine E
• Federmeier, Kara D
• Heller, Wendy
• Berenbaum, Howard
• Kwapil, Thomas

• EEG
• ERP
• alcohol use disorder
• cue salience

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Dahyeon Kang

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121288

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F121288