Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Addict Biol. 2021 Jul;26(4):e12983. doi: 10.1111/adb.12983. Epub 2020 Nov 22.
Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) tasks examine the influence of Pavlovian stimuli on ongoing instrumental behaviour. Previous studies reported associations between a strong PIT effect, high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder. This study investigated whether susceptibility to interference between Pavlovian and instrumental control is linked to risky alcohol use in a community sample of 18-year-old male adults. Participants (N = 191) were instructed to 'collect good shells' and 'leave bad shells' during the presentation of appetitive (monetary reward), aversive (monetary loss) or neutral Pavlovian stimuli. We compared instrumental error rates (ER) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain responses between the congruent and incongruent conditions, as well as among high-risk and low-risk drinking groups. On average, individuals showed a substantial PIT effect, that is, increased ER when Pavlovian cues and instrumental stimuli were in conflict compared with congruent trials. Neural PIT correlates were found in the ventral striatum and the dorsomedial and lateral prefrontal cortices (lPFC). Importantly, high-risk drinking was associated with a stronger behavioural PIT effect, a decreased lPFC response and an increased neural response in the ventral striatum on the trend level. Moreover, high-risk drinkers showed weaker connectivity from the ventral striatum to the lPFC during incongruent trials. Our study links interference during PIT to drinking behaviour in healthy, young adults. High-risk drinkers showed higher susceptibility to Pavlovian cues, especially when they conflicted with instrumental behaviour, indicating lower interference control abilities. Increased activity in the ventral striatum (bottom-up), decreased lPFC response (top-down), and their altered interplay may contribute to poor interference control in the high-risk drinkers.
巴甫洛夫到工具性条件反射（PIT）任务考察了巴甫洛夫刺激对正在进行的工具性行为的影响。先前的研究报告称，强烈的 PIT 效应、高风险饮酒和酒精使用障碍之间存在关联。本研究在 18 岁男性成年人群体样本中，调查了对巴甫洛夫控制与工具性控制之间干扰的易感性与危险饮酒之间是否存在关联。参与者（N=191）被指示在呈现奖赏性（金钱奖励）、厌恶性（金钱损失）或中性巴甫洛夫刺激时“收集好贝壳”和“留下坏贝壳”。我们比较了在一致和不一致条件下的工具性错误率（ER）和功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）大脑反应，以及高风险和低风险饮酒组之间的差异。平均而言，个体表现出显著的 PIT 效应，即当巴甫洛夫线索和工具性刺激冲突时，与一致试验相比，ER 增加。在腹侧纹状体以及背内侧和外侧前额叶皮层（lPFC）中发现了神经 PIT 相关物。重要的是，高风险饮酒与更强的行为 PIT 效应、lPFC 反应降低以及腹侧纹状体的神经反应增加相关，这只是趋势水平。此外，高风险饮酒者在不一致试验中显示出腹侧纹状体与 lPFC 之间的连接较弱。我们的研究将 PIT 期间的干扰与健康年轻成年人的饮酒行为联系起来。高风险饮酒者对巴甫洛夫线索的敏感性更高，尤其是当它们与工具性行为冲突时，表明他们的干扰控制能力较低。腹侧纹状体（自上而下）活动增加，lPFC 反应（自上而下）降低，以及它们的相互作用改变，可能导致高风险饮酒者的干扰控制能力较差。
