The impact of intermediate-term alcohol abstinence on memory retrieval and suppression.

BACKGROUND: The nature of episodic memory deficit in intermediate-term abstinence from alcohol in alcohol dependence (AD) is not yet clarified. Deficits in inhibitory control are commonly reported in substance use disorders. However, much less is known about cognitive control suppressing interference from memory. The Think/No-think (TNT) paradigm is a well established method to investigate inhibition of associative memory retrieval. METHODS: Thirty-six unmedicated patients with AD and 36 healthy controls (HCs) performed the TNT task. Thirty image-word pairs were trained up to a predefined accuracy level. Cued recall was examined in three conditions: Think (T) for items instructed to-be-remembered, No-think (NT) assessing the ability to suppress retrieval and Baseline (B) for general relational memory. Premorbid IQ, clinical variables and impulsivity measures were quantified. RESULTS: AD patients had a significantly increased demand for training. Baseline memory abilities and effect of practice on retrieval were not markedly different between the groups. We found a significant main effect of group (HC vs. AD) × condition (B, T, and NT) and a significant difference in mean NT-B scores for the two groups. DISCUSSION: AD and HC groups did not differ essentially in their baseline memory abilities. Also, the instruction to focus on retrieval improved episodic memory performance in both groups. Crucially, control participants were able to suppress relational words in the NT condition supporting the critical effect of cognitive control processes over inhibition of retrieval. In contrast to this, the ability of AD patients to suppress retrieval was found to be impaired.

Direct and indirect symptom severity indicators of alcohol dependence and the personality concept of the biosocial model.

Temperament and character factors are strongly related to the developmental, clinical, and treatment aspects of alcohol dependence. This study had the aim of revealing the underlying personality structure and individual differences in the symptoms of alcohol dependence measured by multiple severity indicators. Patients with alcohol dependence exhibited higher levels of novelty seeking and harm avoidance, and lower levels of persistence, self-directedness, and cooperativeness. Especially novelty seeking was connected with more severe alcohol dependence. These characteristics could be useful targets of interventions and Temperament and Character Inventory is therefore a useful measurement to identify patients with more severe alcohol-related problems.

Personality traits and coping compensate for disadvantageous decision-making in long-term alcohol abstinence.

AIMS: High relapse rate and extreme difficulty to maintain abstinence are core characteristics of alcohol dependence (AD). Previous studies have demonstrated a persistent decision-making (DM) deficit in AD. We aimed to reveal specific personality features and stress-coping mechanisms presumed to compensate for ineffective DM skills. METHODS: Eighty-eight unmedicated patients with AD were enrolled. Intact general cognitive status was assured by IQ above 90. Forty-three patients had an average abstinence period of 12 weeks and were currently in an inpatient treatment program (short-term abstinence group, STA) and 45 patients were abstinent for at least 3 years (long-term abstinence group, LTA). The two groups were assessed using an integrative approach combining domains of DM, temperament and character dimensions and stress-coping measures. RESULTS: Both groups performed at chance level with no linear improvement tendency on the gambling task assessing DM adequacy. The LTA group scored significantly higher on scales of self-directedness and cooperativeness. In contrast, levels of harm avoidance, emotion-oriented coping and perceived stress were significantly higher in the STA group. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide new evidence for a persistent DM deficit with no learning effect in AD. Despite the deficit, alcohol-dependent patients can achieve LTA. STA patients perceive higher levels of stress and use non-adaptive coping strategies. We propose that the more adaptive personality profile of LTA patients contributes to the compensation of the trait-like DM deficit in alcoholism. These compensatory features represent promising new targets for preventive measures and therapeutic interventions in AD.