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Disruption of Frontal Lobe Neural Synchrony During Cognitive Control by Alcohol Intoxication
Published on: February 6, 2019
A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial examining the dose-dependent effects of acute alcohol
Blair Aitken1, Brook Shiferaw1,2, Luke A Downey1,3
1Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia.
Rationale:
Acute alcohol intoxication impairs cognitive and motor control, elevating risk in safety-critical contexts. While blood alcohol concentration (BAC) quantifies exposure, it does not reflect real-time functional impairment. Mobile, performance-based assessments may offer scalable detection tools, but their sensitivity under controlled alcohol challenge requires further validation.
Objectives:
To evaluate the sensitivity of a mobile cognitive assessment (DRUID®) to alcohol-induced impairment across low and moderate intoxication levels and examined objective cognitive performance and subjective intoxication within a unified framework.
Methods:
In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects trial, 30 healthy adults (33% female; aged 23-49 years) completed neurocognitive testing following placebo, low-dose alcohol (mean peak BAC 0.04%), and moderate-dose alcohol (mean peak BAC 0.07%). Cognitive performance was measured using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) and DRUID®, while subjective effects were assessed via the Brief Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale and a single-item intoxication rating.
Results:
Moderate alcohol intoxication significantly impaired spatial working memory, sustained attention, and psychomotor control (all p < 0.05), and elevated DRUID® impairment scores at 130 min post-dose relative to placebo (p < 0.001). Low-dose alcohol increased subjective intoxication and sedation (both p < 0.001) without measurable cognitive impairment.
Conclusions:
Moderate alcohol produced persistent neurocognitive deficits despite dissociation between subjective and objective measures. Findings support performance-based impairment models and highlight mobile cognitive tools such as DRUID® as practical candidates for real-time functional assessment in applied safety settings.
Trial Registration:
ACTRN12623000528651, 19/05/2023.
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