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Effects of ethanol on anti-saccade task performance
Sarah A Khan1, Kristen Ford, Brian Timney
1Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, Social Science Centre, London, Ontario, N6A 5C2, Canada.
Experimental Brain Research
|April 17, 2003
Summary
Moderate ethanol consumption reduced errors in the anti-saccade task by suppressing visual signals in the superior colliculus (SC). This supports the hypothesis that visual signal thresholds trigger reflexive saccades and errors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Saccade-related neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) show heightened activity before errors in the anti-saccade task.
- Errors are hypothesized to occur when visual signals in the SC cross a threshold, triggering reflexive saccades.
- Ethanol is known to suppress cortical visual event-related potentials (ERPs).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of moderate ethanol consumption on anti-saccade task performance.
- To examine if ethanol attenuates visual signals, thereby reducing anti-saccade errors.
- To explore the relationship between ethanol's effect on ERPs and anti-saccade error rates.
Main Methods:
- Adult males performed an anti-saccade task under both placebo and moderate ethanol conditions.
- Eye movements and electroencephalography (EEG) to record event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured.
- A gap period of 200 ms between fixation point offset and stimulus presentation was used.
Main Results:
- Ethanol consumption decreased ERP amplitudes during the gap period and post-stimulus.
- Anti-saccade latencies increased under ethanol compared to placebo.
- The percentage of direction errors in the anti-saccade task significantly decreased with ethanol consumption.
Conclusions:
- Moderate ethanol consumption impacts anti-saccade performance.
- The findings support the hypothesis that incoming visual signals trigger anti-saccade errors.
- Ethanol's suppressive effect on visual processing may reduce errors by lowering the threshold for reflexive saccades.
