Department of Biopsychology, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, 44780, Bochum, Germany,
Arch Toxicol. 2014 Feb;88(2):475-88. doi: 10.1007/s00204-013-1109-2. Epub 2013 Aug 8.
High-dosage alcohol intoxication (i.e., binge drinking in humans) is an increasingly prevalent problem. Despite the well-known long-term consequences, the acute effects of high-dosage alcohol intoxication on cognitive control processes have not been investigated with respect to neurophysiological changes in humans. We provide insights into the effects of high-dosage ethanol intoxication on action control functions in humans on the basis of neurophysiological (EEG) data. Action control processes were examined in a stop-change task. Based on a detailed analysis of behavioral and electrophysiological data, we demonstrate a specific modulation of action cascading processes. Opposed to commonly held views, high-dosage ethanol intoxication (0.9-1.13 ‰) exerts highly specific effects on cognitive subprocesses mediating action control. If action control processes are performed in succession, intoxicated and non-intoxicated participants perform equally well. However, action control processes become compromised during high-dosage ethanol intoxication, when different response options require processing resources in parallel. Under high-dose ethanol intoxication, subjects are not able to prioritize different response options. We could demonstrate that the effects were of high effect sizes (η (2) = 0.702) and rely more on response selection deficits than on deficits in attentional processing. The changes in response selection processes are mediated via the anterior cingulate cortex. The specificity of the observed effects may be due to a differential involvement of dopaminergic and GABAergic processes in action control and attentional selection processes.
高剂量酒精中毒（即人类的狂饮）是一个日益普遍的问题。尽管长期后果众所周知，但高剂量酒精中毒对认知控制过程的急性影响尚未在人类的神经生理学变化方面进行研究。我们根据神经生理学（EEG）数据，提供了关于高剂量乙醇中毒对人类动作控制功能的影响的见解。在停止-改变任务中检查了动作控制过程。基于对行为和电生理数据的详细分析，我们证明了动作级联过程的特定调制。与普遍的观点相反，高剂量乙醇中毒（0.9-1.13‰）对介导动作控制的认知子过程产生高度特异性的影响。如果动作控制过程连续进行，醉酒和非醉酒参与者的表现同样出色。然而，当不同的反应选项需要并行处理资源时，高剂量乙醇中毒会损害动作控制过程。在高剂量乙醇中毒下，受试者无法优先考虑不同的反应选项。我们能够证明这些影响具有较高的效应大小（η（2）=0.702），并且更多地依赖于反应选择缺陷，而不是注意力处理缺陷。反应选择过程的变化是通过前扣带皮层介导的。观察到的效应的特异性可能归因于多巴胺能和 GABA 能过程在动作控制和注意力选择过程中的差异参与。
