Compensating for alcohol-induced impairment of control: effects on inhibition and activation of behavior

Studies have shown that expectations of alcohol-induced impairment can produce adaptive responses to alcohol that reduce the degree of behavioral impairment displayed. However, compensatory effects have been variable for cognitive and psychomotor tasks.

Using a model-driven approach to understanding behavioral control, the present study examined compensatory and impairment effects following the expectation and actual administration of alcohol on the ability to inhibit and activate behavior.

Social drinkers (N=17) performed a cued go/no-go task that required quick responses to go targets and inhibition of responses to no-go targets under four conditions: no treatment, alcohol expectancy (placebo), 0.45 g/kg alcohol, and 0.65 g/kg alcohol.

Inhibitory and activational aspects of behavioral control were impaired by both active doses of alcohol. Alcohol slowed response activation and increased failures to inhibit responses in a dose-dependent manner. Subjects also displayed a small, but statistically significant, compensatory improvement in inhibitory control in response to the expectation of alcohol. Moreover, individual differences in the compensatory response were related to differences in alcohol impairment. Those who displayed greater compensatory responses to placebo displayed the least impairment in response to alcohol.

By modeling behavioral control as the net effect of countervailing activational and inhibitory influences, the study suggests that fundamental mechanisms of control might not display uniform compensatory reactions to alcohol-related cues. Greater consideration of how alcohol-related expectancies shape behaviors under the drug should lead to a better understanding of individual differences with respect to risk for alcohol abuse.