Citation

Ribordy Lambert F, Wicht CA, Mouthon M, Spierer L. Neuroimage 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Neurology Unit, Medicine Section, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland. Electronic address: lucas.spierer@unifr.ch.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116811

PMID

32276071

Abstract

While the deleterious effects of acute ethyl alcohol intoxication on executive control are well-established, the underlying spatiotemporal functional mechanisms remain largely unresolved. In addition, since the effects of alcohol are noticeable to participants, isolating the effect of the substance from those related to expectation represents a major challenge. We addressed these issues using a double-blind, randomized, parallel, placebo-controlled experimental design comparing the behavioral and electrical neuroimaging acute effects of 0.6 vs 0.02g/kg alcohol intake recorded in 65 healthy adults during an inhibitory control Go/NoGo task. Topographic ERP analyses of covariance with self-reported dose expectations allowed to dissociate their neurophysiological effects from those of the substance. While alcohol intoxication increased response time variability and post-error slowing, bayesian analyses indicated that it did not modify commission error rates. Functionally, alcohol induced topographic modulation over the periods of the stimulus-locked N2 and P3 event-related potential components, arising from pre- supplementary motor and anterior cingulate areas. In contrast, alcohol decreased the strength of the response-locked anterior cingulate error-related component but not its topography. This pattern indicated that alcohol had a locally specific influence within the executive control network, but disrupted performance monitoring processes via global strength- based mechanisms. We further revealed that alcohol-related expectations induced temporally specific functional modulations on the early N2 stimulus-locked medio-lateral prefrontal activity, a processing phase preceding those influenced by the actual alcohol intake. Our collective findings thus not only revealed the mechanisms underlying alcohol-induced impairments in impulse control and error processing, but also dissociated substance- from expectations- related functional effects.

Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en