@article{ref1,
title="Drunk decisions: alcohol shifts choice from habitual towards goal-directed control in adolescent intermediate-risk drinkers",
journal="Journal of psychopharmacology",
year="2018",
author="Obst, Elisabeth and Schad, Daniel J. and Huys, Quentin Jm and Sebold, Miriam and Nebe, Stephan and Sommer, Christian and Smolka, Michael N. and Zimmermann, Ulrich S.",
volume="32",
number="8",
pages="855-866",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Studies in humans and animals suggest a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision-making in addiction. We therefore tested whether acute alcohol administration reduces goal-directed and promotes habitual decision-making, and whether these effects are moderated by self-reported drinking problems. <br><br>METHODS: Fifty-three socially drinking males completed the two-step task in a randomised crossover design while receiving an intravenous infusion of ethanol (blood alcohol level=80 mg%), or placebo. To minimise potential bias by long-standing heavy drinking and subsequent neuropsychological impairment, we tested 18- to 19-year-old adolescents. <br><br>RESULTS: Alcohol administration consistently reduced habitual, model-free decisions, while its effects on goal-directed, model-based behaviour varied as a function of drinking problems measured with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. While adolescents with low risk for drinking problems (scoring <8) exhibited an alcohol-induced numerical reduction in goal-directed choices, intermediate-risk drinkers showed a shift away from habitual towards goal-directed decision-making, such that alcohol possibly even improved their performance. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: We assume that alcohol disrupted basic cognitive functions underlying habitual and goal-directed decisions in low-risk drinkers, thereby enhancing hasty choices. Further, we speculate that intermediate-risk drinkers benefited from alcohol as a negative reinforcer that reduced unpleasant emotional states, possibly displaying a novel risk factor for drinking in adolescence.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0269-8811",
doi="10.1177/0269881118772454",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881118772454"
}