Drunk decisions
- Background: Studies in humans and animals suggest a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision-making in addiction. We therefore tested whether acute alcohol administration reduces goal-directed and promotes habitual decision-making, and whether these effects are moderated by self-reported drinking problems. Methods: Fifty-three socially drinking males completed the two-step task in a randomised crossover design while receiving an intravenous infusion of ethanol (blood alcohol level=80 mg%), or placebo. To minimise potential bias by long-standing heavy drinking and subsequent neuropsychological impairment, we tested 18- to 19-year-old adolescents. Results: Alcohol administration consistently reduced habitual, model-free decisions, while its effects on goal-directed, model-based behaviour varied as a function of drinking problems measured with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. While adolescents with low risk for drinking problems (scoring <8) exhibited an alcohol-induced numerical reduction in goal-directed choices,Background: Studies in humans and animals suggest a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision-making in addiction. We therefore tested whether acute alcohol administration reduces goal-directed and promotes habitual decision-making, and whether these effects are moderated by self-reported drinking problems. Methods: Fifty-three socially drinking males completed the two-step task in a randomised crossover design while receiving an intravenous infusion of ethanol (blood alcohol level=80 mg%), or placebo. To minimise potential bias by long-standing heavy drinking and subsequent neuropsychological impairment, we tested 18- to 19-year-old adolescents. Results: Alcohol administration consistently reduced habitual, model-free decisions, while its effects on goal-directed, model-based behaviour varied as a function of drinking problems measured with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. While adolescents with low risk for drinking problems (scoring <8) exhibited an alcohol-induced numerical reduction in goal-directed choices, intermediate-risk drinkers showed a shift away from habitual towards goal-directed decision-making, such that alcohol possibly even improved their performance. Conclusions: We assume that alcohol disrupted basic cognitive functions underlying habitual and goal-directed decisions in low-risk drinkers, thereby enhancing hasty choices. Further, we speculate that intermediate-risk drinkers benefited from alcohol as a negative reinforcer that reduced unpleasant emotional states, possibly displaying a novel risk factor for drinking in adolescence.…
Author details: | Elisabeth ObstORCiD, Daniel SchadORCiDGND, Quentin J. M. HuysORCiD, Miriam SeboldORCiDGND, Stephan NebeORCiD, Christian SommerORCiD, Michael N. SmolkaORCiDGND, Ulrich S. Zimmermann |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881118772454 |
ISSN: | 0269-8811 |
ISSN: | 1461-7285 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29764270 |
Title of parent work (English): | Journal of Psychopharmacology |
Subtitle (English): | Alcohol shifts choice from habitual towards goal-directed control in adolescent intermediate-risk drinkers |
Publisher: | Sage Publ. |
Place of publishing: | London |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2018/05/16 |
Publication year: | 2018 |
Release date: | 2021/10/27 |
Tag: | Computer-assisted Alcohol Infusion System; drinking problems; habitual learning; model-free and model-based decision-making; real-life drinking behaviour; subjective response to ethanol; two-stage Markov decision task |
Volume: | 32 |
Issue: | 8 |
Number of pages: | 12 |
First page: | 855 |
Last Page: | 866 |
Funding institution: | DFG, FOR 1617 [ZI 1119/41, ZI 1119/3-1, ZI 1119/3-2, SCHA 1971/1-2, SM 80/7-1, SM 80/7-2, WI709/10-1, WI709/10-2]; Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung, BMBFFederal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF) [01ZX1311H, 01ZX1611H]; German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)German Research Foundation (DFG) |
Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
DDC classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |
6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit | |
Peer review: | Referiert |