Journal article
Drunk decisions: Alcohol shifts choice from habitual towards goal-directed control in adolescent intermediate-risk drinkers.
- Obst E 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
- Schad DJ 2 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
- Huys QJ 4 Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
- Sebold M 2 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
- Nebe S 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
- Sommer C 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
- Smolka MN 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
- Zimmermann US 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
- 2018-05-17
Published in:
- Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England). - 2018
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
Adolescent
Alcohol Drinking
Alcoholic Intoxication
Alcoholism
Animals
Behavior, Addictive
Child
Cross-Over Studies
Decision Making
Ethanol
Goals
Humans
Male
Motivation
Underage Drinking
English
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.
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.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- closed
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1177/0269881118772454
- PMID 29764270
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/30990
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