Karlsson Hanna, Mcntyre Sarah, Gustavson Sarah, Andersson David, Szczot Ilona, Heilig Markus, Perini Irene
Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Psychiatry Building, 58183, Linköping, Sweden.
Department of Management and Engineering, Division of Economics, Linköping University, 58183, Linköping, Sweden.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2025 Feb;242(2):327-336. doi: 10.1007/s00213-024-06679-6. Epub 2024 Oct 3.
RATIONALE & OBJECTIVES: A core symptom of alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a progressively increased choice of alcohol over alternative rewards despite negative consequences. Here, we investigated choice between personalized alcohol vs. natural rewards in a laboratory setting, and compared this behavior between non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers and light social drinkers.
30 light social drinkers (15 men drinking < 15 drinks/week and 15 women drinking < 10 drinks/week) and 30 heavy, non-treatment-seeking drinkers (drinking more than these levels; 15 women). In the Concurrent Choice Alcohol Food (CCAF) task, participants chose between individually tailored images of alcohol and snack rewards and collected points towards the respective reward. To assess cost sensitivity, points associated to the images varied so that they favored alcohol or snack, or were equal, creating three relative point levels.
Choice preference for alcohol was strongly correlated with Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) scores, supporting the external validity of the choice procedure. Compared to light drinkers, heavy drinkers showed increased choice preference for alcohol, as indicated by a between-group difference in points of subjective equality, a metric that quantifies the relative point level at which alcohol and snacks were equally likely to be chosen. In both groups, choice preference strongly depended on the relative point level of alcohol compared to snacks, suggesting that responding for alcohol in heavy drinkers was sensitive to costs.
Our results replicate previous findings of a relationship between self-reported alcohol use and choice preference for alcohol. We also found that choice behavior was strongly dependent on relative cost of alcohol in both groups, although price sensitivity was lower in heavy compared to light drinkers. An increased choice preference for alcohol in heavy drinkers suggests that they attribute a higher relative reinforcing value to alcohol compared to natural rewards.
酒精使用障碍（AUD）的一个核心症状是，尽管存在负面后果，但与其他奖励相比，对酒精的选择却在逐渐增加。在此，我们在实验室环境中研究了个性化酒精与自然奖励之间的选择，并比较了未寻求治疗的重度饮酒者和轻度社交饮酒者之间的这种行为。
30名轻度社交饮酒者（15名男性，每周饮酒少于15杯；15名女性，每周饮酒少于10杯）和30名重度未寻求治疗的饮酒者（饮酒量超过上述水平；15名女性）。在并发选择酒精与食物（CCAF）任务中，参与者在为其量身定制的酒精图像和零食奖励之间进行选择，并收集指向相应奖励的积分。为了评估成本敏感性，与图像相关的积分会有所不同，从而使它们更有利于酒精或零食，或者两者相等，从而产生三个相对积分水平。
对酒精的选择偏好与酒精使用障碍识别测试（AUDIT）得分密切相关，支持了选择程序的外部有效性。与轻度饮酒者相比，重度饮酒者对酒精的选择偏好增加，这通过主观平等点的组间差异表明，这一指标量化了酒精和零食被同等选择的相对积分水平。在两组中，选择偏好都强烈依赖于酒精相对于零食的相对积分水平，这表明重度饮酒者对酒精的反应对成本敏感。
我们的结果重复了先前关于自我报告的酒精使用与对酒精的选择偏好之间关系的发现。我们还发现，两组的选择行为都强烈依赖于酒精的相对成本，尽管重度饮酒者的价格敏感性低于轻度饮酒者。重度饮酒者对酒精的选择偏好增加表明，与自然奖励相比，他们赋予酒精更高的相对强化价值。
