title: Electrophysiological responses to alcohol cues are not associated with Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer in social drinkers.
abstract: Pavlovian to Instrumental Transfer (PIT) refers to the behavioral phenomenon of increased instrumental responding for a reinforcer when in the presence of Pavlovian conditioned stimuli that were separately paired with that reinforcer. PIT effects may play an important role in substance use disorders, but little is known about the brain mechanisms that underlie these effects in alcohol consumers. We report behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) data from a group of social drinkers (n = 31) who performed a PIT task in which they chose between two instrumental responses in pursuit of beer and chocolate reinforcers while their EEG reactivity to beer, chocolate and neutral pictorial cues was recorded. We examined two markers of the motivational salience of the pictures: the P300 and slow wave event-related potentials (ERPs). Results demonstrated a behavioral PIT effect: responding for beer was increased when a beer picture was presented. Analyses of ERP amplitudes demonstrated significantly larger slow potentials evoked by beer cues at various electrode clusters. Contrary to hypotheses, there were no significant correlations between behavioral PIT effects, electrophysiological reactivity to the cues, and individual differences in drinking behaviour. Our findings are the first to demonstrate a PIT effect for beer, accompanied by increased slow potentials in response to beer cues, in social drinkers. The lack of relationship between behavioral and EEG measures, and between these measures and individual differences in drinking behaviour may be attributed to methodological features of the PIT task and to characteristics of our sample.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jasna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martinovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Christiansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Abigail K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hogarth
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Field
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D004566:Electrodes; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior; D014163:Transfer, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
references.citation: J Neurosci Methods. 2010 Sep 30;192(1):152-62
references.pmid: 20654646
references.citation: Alcohol Alcohol. 2001 Nov-Dec;36(6):588-93
references.pmid: 11704627
references.citation: Psychol Addict Behav. 2010 Jun;24(2):220-228
references.pmid: 20565148
references.citation: Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1998 Apr;108(3):260-73
references.pmid: 9607515
references.citation: Neuropsychobiology. 2003;48(2):77-81
references.pmid: 14504415
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2004 Feb;14(2):132-42
references.pmid: 14704210
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 2012 Jul;38(3):266-78
references.pmid: 22823420
references.citation: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2000 Nov;24(11):1724-9
references.pmid: 11104120
references.citation: Addiction. 1998 Jul;93(7):1091-102
references.pmid: 9744139
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 May 28;28(22):5861-6
references.pmid: 18509047
references.citation: Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Suppl. 1999;52:3-6
references.pmid: 10590970
references.citation: Front Psychol. 2012 Oct 22;3:440
references.pmid: 23133434
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2013 Apr;1282:12-24
references.pmid: 23126270
references.citation: Addiction. 1993 Jun;88(6):791-804
references.pmid: 8329970
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 2011 Jul;37(3):261-76
references.pmid: 21500933
references.citation: Psychol Addict Behav. 2007 Dec;21(4):555-63
references.pmid: 18072838
references.citation: Med Biol Eng Comput. 1991 Jul;29(4):433-40
references.pmid: 1787761
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011 Apr 22;6(4):e18898
references.pmid: 21526125
references.citation: Clin Neurophysiol. 2013 Oct;124(10):2062-3
references.pmid: 23639379
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 Jan 9;28(2):360-8
references.pmid: 18184778
references.citation: Clin Neurophysiol. 2007 Oct;118(10):2128-48
references.pmid: 17573239
references.citation: Biol Psychol. 2012 May;90(2):154-60
references.pmid: 22406757
references.citation: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2012 Sep;36(8):1803-16
references.pmid: 22613258
references.citation: Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2012;65(12):2333-42
references.pmid: 22631033
references.citation: Psychophysiology. 2011 Feb;48(2):229-40
references.pmid: 20636297
references.citation: Emotion. 2008 Apr;8(2):162-73
references.pmid: 18410190
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2012 Feb 15;59(4):3881-8
references.pmid: 22079505
references.citation: Addiction. 1999 Mar;94(3):327-40
references.pmid: 10605857
references.citation: Psychol Rev. 1974 Mar;81(2):119-45
references.pmid: 4817611
references.citation: Addiction. 2009 Oct;104(10):1610-6
references.pmid: 19426293
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2005 Nov;8(11):1481-9
references.pmid: 16251991
references.citation: Clin Neurophysiol. 2001 Dec;112(12):2224-32
references.pmid: 11738192
references.citation: Addict Biol. 2013 Jan;18(1):88-97
references.pmid: 23167442
references.citation: Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2012 Jun;20(3):213-24
references.pmid: 22369668
references.citation: Biol Psychol. 1995 Oct;41(2):103-46
references.pmid: 8534788
references.citation: Brain Topogr. 2008 Jun;20(4):249-64
references.pmid: 18347966
references.citation: Brain Topogr. 1990 Fall;3(1):137-41
references.pmid: 2094301
references.citation: Dev Neuropsychol. 2010;35(2):129-55
references.pmid: 20390599
references.citation: Med Biol Eng Comput. 1990 Sep;28(5):389-97
references.pmid: 2277538
references.citation: J Psychopharmacol. 2007 Nov;21(8):873-82
references.pmid: 17984163
references.citation: J Neurosci Methods. 2004 Mar 15;134(1):9-21
references.pmid: 15102499