title: Binge Drinkers Are Fast, Able to Stop - but They Fail to Adjust.
abstract: Binge drinking leads to brain damage. However, at present few studies have taken into account the continuity in the binge drinking phenomenon, and treated binge drinking as a clearly separable category from other types of drinking patterns. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether severity of binge drinking can predict specific neurocognitive changes in healthy young adults. A total of 121 students aged 18 to 25 were assessed by means of the three last questions of the Alcohol Use Questionnaire combined into binge score. The binge score was entered as a predictor of cognitive performance of the CANTAB Stop Signal Task including reaction time, inhibition processing time, and response adjustment. Anxiety and depression symptoms were also measured. Binge score significantly predicted less adjustment following failures, and faster reaction times. Binge score did not predict inhibition performance. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were not significantly related to binge score. Binge drinking in healthy young adults predicts impairment in response adjustment and fast reaction time, but is unrelated to inhibition. The study supports the view that binge drinking is a continuous phenomenon, rather than discrete category, and the findings are possibly shedding light on why binge drinkers continue their drinking pattern despite negative consequences. (JINS, 2016, 22, 38-46).
authors.affiliation: 1Clinical Neuroscience Research Group,Department of Psychology,University of Oslo,Oslo,Norway.
authors.forename: Ragnhild
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bø
authors.affiliation: 1Clinical Neuroscience Research Group,Department of Psychology,University of Oslo,Oslo,Norway.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aker
authors.affiliation: 2Laboratory for Experimental Psychopathology,Psychological Science Research Institute,Catholic University of Louvain,Louvain-La-Neuve,Belgium.
authors.forename: Joël
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Billieux
authors.affiliation: 1Clinical Neuroscience Research Group,Department of Psychology,University of Oslo,Oslo,Norway.
authors.forename: Nils Inge
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Landrø
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Binge drinking; Inhibition; Reaction time; Response monitoring; Stop Signal Task; Students