Psychological Neuroscience Laboratory (PNL), Psychology Research Center (CIPsi), School of Psychology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
Department of Experimental Psychology, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), 28223 Madrid, Spain.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2024 Aug 30;134:111053. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.111053. Epub 2024 Jun 11.
People are able to voluntarily suppress unwanted thoughts or memories, a phenomenon known as suppression-induced forgetting or memory suppression. Despite harmful alcohol use, such as binge drinking, has been linked to impaired inhibitory control (IC) and augmented alcohol-cue reactivity, no study to date has assessed memory inhibition abilities towards alcohol-related cues in binge drinkers (BDs). Thus, the present preregistered study aimed to evaluate the behavioral and neurofunctional mechanisms associated with memory inhibition, specifically those related to the suppression of alcohol-related memories, in young BDs. For this purpose, electroencephalographic activity was recorded in eighty-two college students aged between 18 and 24 years old from the University of Minho (50% females; 40 non/low-drinkers [N/LDS] and 42 BDs) while they performed the Think/No-Think Alcohol task. Brain functional connectivity (FC) was calculated using the phase locking value and, subsequently, a dynamic seed-based analysis was conducted to explore the FC patterns between IC and memory networks. Comparatively to N/LDs, BDs exhibited decreased alpha-band FC between the anterior cingulate cortex and the left fusiform gyrus during attempts to suppress non-alcohol memories, accompanied by unsuccessful forgetting of those memories. Conversely, BDs displayed augmented gamma-band FC between the IC network and memory regions -i.e., hippocampus, parahippocampus and fusiform gyrus- during suppression of alcohol-related memories. Inhibitory abnormalities in BDs may lead to hypoconnectivity between IC and memory networks and deficient suppression of non-alcohol-related memories. However, while suppressing highly salient and reward-predicting stimuli, such as alcohol-related memories, BDs display a hyperconnectivity pattern between IC and memory networks, likely due to their augmented attention towards intrusive alcoholic memories and the attempts to compensate for potential underlying IC deficits. These findings hold important implications for alcohol research and treatment, as they open up new avenues for reducing alcohol use by shifting the focus to empowering suppression/control over alcohol-related memories. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: [http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05237414].
人们能够自愿抑制不想要的想法或记忆，这种现象被称为抑制诱导遗忘或记忆抑制。尽管有害的酒精使用，如 binge drinking，与抑制控制受损和增强的酒精线索反应性有关，但迄今为止，没有研究评估 binge drinkers（BDs）对与酒精相关的线索的记忆抑制能力。因此，本预先注册的研究旨在评估与记忆抑制相关的行为和神经功能机制，特别是与抑制与酒精相关的记忆相关的机制，在年轻的 BDs 中。为此，在米尼奥大学的 82 名年龄在 18 至 24 岁之间的大学生（50%为女性；40 名非/低饮酒者[N/LDS]和 42 名 BDs）中记录了脑电图活动，他们在执行 Think/No-Think Alcohol 任务时。使用锁相值计算脑功能连接（FC），随后进行动态种子基础分析，以探索 IC 和记忆网络之间的 FC 模式。与 N/LDS 相比，BDs 在试图抑制非酒精记忆时表现出前扣带皮层和左侧梭状回之间的 alpha 波段 FC 降低，并且这些记忆的遗忘不成功。相反，BDs 在抑制与酒精相关的记忆时表现出 IC 网络和记忆区域（即海马体、旁海马体和梭状回）之间的伽马波段 FC 增加。BDs 的抑制异常可能导致 IC 和记忆网络之间的连接减少，以及非酒精相关记忆的抑制不足。然而，当抑制高度突出和奖励预测性刺激，如与酒精相关的记忆时，BDs 显示出 IC 和记忆网络之间的超连接模式，这可能是由于他们对侵入性酒精记忆的注意力增加以及对潜在的基础 IC 缺陷的补偿尝试。这些发现对酒精研究和治疗具有重要意义，因为它们为减少酒精使用开辟了新途径，将注意力转移到增强对与酒精相关的记忆的抑制/控制上。临床试验注册：[http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov]，标识符[NCT05237414]。
