BACKGROUND: Attentional biases and deficits play a central role in the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence, but the underlying attentional processes accounting for these deficits have been very little explored. Importantly, the differential alterations across the 3 attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) remain unclear in this pathology. METHODS: Thirty recently detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals and 30 paired controls completed the Attention Network Test, which allow exploring the attentional alterations specifically related to the 3 attentional networks. RESULTS: Alcohol-dependent individuals presented globally delayed reaction times compared to controls. More centrally, they showed a differential deficit across attention networks, with a preserved performance for alerting and orienting networks but impaired executive control (p < 0.001). This deficit was not related to psychopathological comorbidities but was positively correlated with the duration of alcohol-dependence habits, the number of previous detoxification treatments and the mean alcohol consumption before detoxification. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that attentional alterations in alcohol dependence are centrally due to a specific alteration of executive control. Intervention programs focusing on executive components of attention should be promoted, and these results support the frontal lobe hypothesis.
BACKGROUND: Attentional biases and deficits play a central role in the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence, but the underlying attentional processes accounting for these deficits have been very little explored. Importantly, the differential alterations across the 3 attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) remain unclear in this pathology. METHODS: Thirty recently detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals and 30 paired controls completed the Attention Network Test, which allow exploring the attentional alterations specifically related to the 3 attentional networks. RESULTS:Alcohol-dependent individuals presented globally delayed reaction times compared to controls. More centrally, they showed a differential deficit across attention networks, with a preserved performance for alerting and orienting networks but impaired executive control (p < 0.001). This deficit was not related to psychopathological comorbidities but was positively correlated with the duration of alcohol-dependence habits, the number of previous detoxification treatments and the mean alcohol consumption before detoxification. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that attentional alterations in alcohol dependence are centrally due to a specific alteration of executive control. Intervention programs focusing on executive components of attention should be promoted, and these results support the frontal lobe hypothesis.
Authors: James M Bjork; Lori Keyser-Marcus; Jasmin Vassileva; Tatiana Ramey; David C Houghton; F Gerard Moeller Journal: Psychiatry Res Date: 2022-05-01 Impact factor: 11.225
Authors: A Correas; E López-Caneda; L Beaton; S Rodríguez Holguín; L M García-Moreno; L F Antón-Toro; F Cadaveira; F Maestú; K Marinkovic Journal: J Psychopharmacol Date: 2018-10-24 Impact factor: 4.153
Authors: Trina M Norden-Krichmar; Ian R Gizer; Evelyn Phillips; Kirk C Wilhelmsen; Nicholas J Schork; Cindy L Ehlers Journal: Twin Res Hum Genet Date: 2015-11-26 Impact factor: 1.587