Using Neuroeconomics to Characterize State-Based Increases and Decreases in Alcohol Value

McMaster University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Alcohol Use Disorder; Alcohol Drinking

Treatments: Behavioral: Cue Exposure

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04067765

R01AA027255-01A1

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study uses techniques from an area of research known as neuroeconomics, which integrates concepts and methods from psychology, neuroscience, and economics to better understand how people make decisions and how these decisions are supported by the brain. One neuroeconomic concept that is especially relevant in the area of addictions is substance demand, or how consumption of a commodity (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, or drugs) is influenced by price and other factors. Previous studies have shown that alcohol demand is related to severity of alcohol misuse, drinking quantity/frequency, and treatment outcomes. In addition, we know that alcohol demand can also fluctuate in response to environmental cues such as alcohol-related stimuli or external contingencies such as important responsibilities the following day. These increase and decreases in consumption and value are clinically significant because they help us understand how people with alcohol use disorders are able to successfully or unsuccessfully modulate their drinking behaviors. This study is examining how the brain responds in these situations and whether these responses differ as a function of severity of alcohol misuse. This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to understand brain activity patterns associated with changes in the value of alcohol in the presence of alcohol-related beverage cues relative to neutral-related beverage cue. Participants will be non-treatment-seeking adult heavy drinkers who are recruited from the community to participate in an fMRI scan. During the scan, participants will make decisions about how many alcohol beverages they would consume (hypothetically) at various prices while their brain activity during those decisions is measured. The experimental manipulation involves an in-scanner alcohol cue exposure task in which the drinking decisions will be made after viewing high-quality images of alcoholic (beer/wine/liquor) beverages or neutral (water/juice/soft drinks) beverages.

Full description

Neuroeconomics integrates concepts and methods from psychology, economics, and cognitive neuroscience to understand the neurobiological foundations of decision making, and has been increasingly applied to understanding alcohol use disorder (AUD). A novel application of neuroeconomics is the study of alcohol demand, or the value of alcohol as measured by cost-benefit preferences. Alcohol demand paradigms have considerable ecological validity by measuring the impact of internal and external influences on alcohol decision-making, such as price, environmental cues, affective states, or external contingencies. Behaviorally, alcohol demand is elevated among individuals with higher levels of alcohol misuse and predicts treatment response. Alcohol demand also exhibits state-like properties, including increases following exposure to alcohol-related cues. The overall goal of the proposed studies is to characterize the neural activity that subserves these established behavioral findings using a novel functional MRI paradigm.

The primary aim is to examine the patterns of neural activation underlying increases in the value of alcohol in response to alcohol cues. The study will use a within-subjects design to identify differences in neural activity associated with demand decisions following a validated in-scanner cue exposure protocol consisting of exposure to neutral beverage cues and exposure to alcohol beverage cues in a sample of adult heavy drinkers.

Using a novel neuroeconomics approach, this study combines a highly ecologically-valid alcohol demand paradigm with an experimental manipulation that models clinically-relevant influences on drinking decisions. Studying these contextual influences may help clarify the neural signatures that underlie drinking moderation vs. unconstrained drinking, and how these processes are impacted by AUD. If successful, this study will provide a foundation for examining neural predictors of successful recovery or response to treatment vs. relapse. More broadly, findings from this study have high potential to significantly enhance the clinical relevance of alcohol neuroscience.

Enrollment: 72 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21 to 55 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 21-55 years old;
• Right-handed;
• Fluent English speaker;
• Heavy drinker (i.e., on average > 14/7 drinks per week for males/females in past three months;
• Average of 1 heavy drinking episode weekly (heavy drinking episode = 5+/4+ for males/females) over past three months

Exclusion criteria

• Currently receiving treatment, or seeking treatment, for alcohol related problems;
• Current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) substance use disorder other than alcohol or tobacco;
• Weekly or more frequent use of recreational drugs;
• History of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, or PTSD;
• History of neurocognitive disorder or impairment;
• MRI contraindications (e.g., metal in body, history of seizure, etc.);
• History of serious brain injury;
• Currently taking psychotropic medications or medications that could affect cerebral blood flow;
• Pregnancy (females);
• Attending any study session with a positive breath alcohol concentration (BrAC > 0.00g%)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Sequential Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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72 participants in 1 patient group

Neutral Cue, then Alcohol Cue

Experimental group

Description:

Participants first completed an in-scanner neutral cue exposure prior to the first two in-scanner alcohol purchase tasks runs. Participants then received an in-scanner alcohol cue exposure prior to the final two in-scanner alcohol purchase task runs. Cue exposures consisted of images of neutral (water) or alcohol (beer, wine, liquor) beverages and an imaginal script describing a drinking scenario.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cue Exposure