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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
Published on: January 5, 2018
Alcohol cue-reactivity, inhibitory control, and associated psychological factors in college binge drinkers
Reiko Graham1, Allison Zborowski1, Caydin Hazziez1
1Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA.
Abstract:
Hazardous drinking is declining worldwide, but collegiate binge drinking (BD) and its negative consequences remain problematic. This study examined neural and psychological correlates of BD in undergraduate drinkers. We predicted that the event-related potentials (ERP) of binge drinkers would reflect greater alcohol-related cue reactivity (ACR) and weaker/more effortful alcohol-related inhibitory control (AIC), and that ERPs would correlate with self-reported impulsivity, alcohol-related reinforcement, and drinking motives. Binge drinkers (BDs = 32, 11 males) and non-binge drinkers (nBDs = 34, 10 males) were surveyed on impulsivity, alcohol-related reinforcement, and drinking motives, then completed a two-condition alcohol Go/No-Go task. In the ACR condition, participants responded to alcohol images (alcohol Go) and ignored non-alcohol images (control No-Go). In the AIC condition, the instructions were reversed (alcohol No-Go, control Go). We found that BDs reported greater impulsivity and alcohol-related reinforcement. Non-BDs endorsed greater social drinking motives. In both groups, N2 amplitudes were larger for alcohol No-Go trials, reflecting weaker/more effortful inhibitory control in the presence of alcohol images. Overall, BDs had smaller early P3 and late P3 components, supporting this ERP's role as a biomarker of hazardous drinking risk. This study confirms and extends the ERP literature on ACR, AIC, and collegiate binge drinking.
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