Inhibitory-control event-related potentials correlate with individual differences in alcohol use.
Impulsivity is a multidimensional construct that is related to different aspects of alcohol use, abuse, and dependence. Inhibitory control, one facet of impulsivity, can be assayed using the stop-signal task (SST) and quantified behaviorally via the stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) and electrophysiologically using event-related potentials (ERPs). Research on the relationship between alcohol use and SSRTs, and between alcohol use and inhibitory-control ERPs, is mixed. Here, adult alcohol users (n = 79), with a wide range of scores on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), completed the SST under electroencephalography (EEG) (70% of participants had AUDIT total scores greater than or equal to 8). Other measures, including demographic, self-report, and task-based measures of impulsivity, personality, and psychological factors, were also recorded. A machine-learning method with penalized linear regression was used to correlate individual differences in alcohol use with impulsivity measures. Four separate models were tested, with out-of-sample validation used to quantify performance. ERPs alone statistically predicted alcohol use (cross-validated r = 0.28), with both early and late ERP components contributing to the model (larger N2, but smaller P3, amplitude). Behavioral data from a wide range of impulsivity measures were also associated with alcohol use (r = 0.37). SSRT was a relatively weak statistical predictor, whereas the Stroop interference effect was relatively strong. The addition of nonimpulsivity behavioral measures did not improve the correlation (r = 0.34) and was similar when ERPs were combined with non-ERP data (r = 0.29). These findings show that inhibitory control ERPs are robustly correlated individual differences in alcohol use.
["O'Halloran|Laura|L|", 'Rueda-Delgado|Laura M|LM|', 'Jollans|Lee|L|', 'Cao|Zhipeng|Z|', 'Boyle|Rory|R|', 'Vaughan|Christina|C|', 'Coey|Phillip|P|', 'Whelan|Robert|R|0000-0002-2790-7281']
D000328:Adult D000428:Alcohol Drinking D004569:Electroencephalography D005071:Evoked Potentials D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007175:Impulsive Behavior D007206:Individuality D007266:Inhibition, Psychological D008297:Male D010551:Personality D011930:Reaction Time D013334:Students D055815:Young Adult
event-related potentials alcohol impulsivity electroencephalography human adults machine learning