Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044 , USA.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012 Nov 1;126(1-2):176-82. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2012.05.010. Epub 2012 Jun 4.
Despite the wealth of studies demonstrating the impairing effects of alcohol on behavioral inhibition, less is known regarding effects of the drug on attentional inhibition (i.e., the ability to ignore distracting stimuli in the environment in order to focus attention on relevant information). The current study examined alcohol impairment of both behavioral and attentional inhibition, as well as potential associations between the two mechanisms of inhibitory control.
Men (n=27) and women (n=21) performed a measure of behavioral inhibition (cued go/no-go task) and a measure of attentional inhibition (delayed ocular return task) following three doses of alcohol: 0.65 g/kg, 0.45 g/kg, and 0.0 g/kg (placebo).
Alcohol impaired both behavioral and attentional inhibition relative to placebo; however, correlational analyses revealed no associations between measures of behavioral and attentional inhibition following any dose. Additionally, men committed more inhibitory failures on the behavioral inhibition task, whereas women committed more inhibitory failures on the attentional inhibition task.
These findings suggest that behavioral and attentional inhibition are equally sensitive to the impairing effects of alcohol, yet represent distinct components of inhibitory control. Additionally, the observed gender differences in control of behavior and attention could have important implications regarding negative consequences associated with alcohol-induced disinhibition in men and women.
尽管有大量研究表明酒精对行为抑制有损害作用，但对于药物对注意力抑制（即忽略环境中分散注意力的刺激，以便将注意力集中在相关信息上的能力）的影响知之甚少。本研究考察了酒精对行为和注意力抑制的损害作用，以及两种抑制控制机制之间的潜在关联。
男性（n=27）和女性（n=21）在接受三种剂量的酒精（0.65g/kg、0.45g/kg 和 0.0g/kg（安慰剂））后，分别进行行为抑制（线索 Go/No-Go 任务）和注意力抑制（延迟眼动返回任务）的测量。
与安慰剂相比，酒精会损害行为和注意力抑制；然而，在任何剂量下，行为和注意力抑制测量之间的相关分析均未显示出关联。此外，男性在行为抑制任务中犯的抑制错误更多，而女性在注意力抑制任务中犯的抑制错误更多。
这些发现表明，行为和注意力抑制对酒精的损害作用同样敏感，但代表了抑制控制的不同成分。此外，观察到的行为和注意力控制方面的性别差异可能对男性和女性因酒精引起的抑制障碍相关的负面后果具有重要意义。
