title: The impact of intermediate-term alcohol abstinence on memory retrieval and suppression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The nature of episodic memory deficit in intermediate-term abstinence from alcohol in alcohol dependence (AD) is not yet clarified. Deficits in inhibitory control are commonly reported in substance use disorders. However, much less is known about cognitive control suppressing interference from memory. The Think/No-think (TNT) paradigm is a well established method to investigate inhibition of associative memory retrieval.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-six unmedicated patients with AD and 36 healthy controls (HCs) performed the TNT task. Thirty image-word pairs were trained up to a predefined accuracy level. Cued recall was examined in three conditions: Think (T) for items instructed to-be-remembered, No-think (NT) assessing the ability to suppress retrieval and Baseline (B) for general relational memory. Premorbid IQ, clinical variables and impulsivity measures were quantified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  AD patients had a significantly increased demand for training. Baseline memory abilities and effect of practice on retrieval were not markedly different between the groups. We found a significant main effect of group (HC vs. AD) × condition (B, T, and NT) and a significant difference in mean NT-B scores for the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AD and HC groups did not differ essentially in their baseline memory abilities. Also, the instruction to focus on retrieval improved episodic memory performance in both groups. Crucially, control participants were able to suppress relational words in the NT condition supporting the critical effect of cognitive control processes over inhibition of retrieval. In contrast to this, the ability of AD patients to suppress retrieval was found to be impaired.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Viola L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Nemeth
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Eszter
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kurgyis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Szeged Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gabor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Csifcsak
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Addiction, Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Anikó
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maraz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Denes A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Almasi
authors.affiliation: Neuroimaging Research Group, Research Center for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gergely
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Drotos
authors.affiliation: Addiction Rehabilitation Center Based on the Minnesota Model, Hospital of Szigetvar Szigetvar, Hungary.
authors.forename: Petronella
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Szikszay
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Balint
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Janka
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Must
keywords: alcohol dependence; cognitive control; inhibition of retrieva; intermediate-term abstinence; relational memory