Project 4: Acute Effects of Alcohol on Learning and Habitization in Healthy Young Adults — LeAD_P4  

Alcoholism Clinical Trial

Official title: Project 4: Acute Effects of Alcohol on Learning and Habitization in Healthy Young Adults

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

This project aims to investigate how dysfunctional learning and habitization are affected by acute alcohol exposure, and whether individual differences in such alcohol effects can predict later development of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs). Eighty 18-year-old healthy male subjects are tested on two days in a within-subjects design with blinded administration of alcohol vs. placebo and different behavioral and learning tasks. The investigators investigate how alcohol influences the performance during these tasks, whether alcohol effects differ between high- and low-risk subjects, and whether task performance under alcohol predicts future AUDs.

Clinical Trial Description

This project is part of a large multi-center study in Dresden and Berlin on Learning and Alcohol Dependence (LeAD). Project 4 aims to investigate how dysfunctional learning and habitization are affected by acute alcohol exposure, and whether individual differences in such alcohol effects can predict later development of AUDs. The project investigates eighty 18-year-old healthy male subjects, a subsample of LeAD project 1 that were already tested in Dresden using fMRI(Clinical Trials.govID: NCT01744834). Participants are tested on two days in a within-subjects design with blinded administration of alcohol or placebo. On 2 days participants are performing three behavioral and learning tasks measuring: 1. conditioning of money vs. drink stimuli 2. habitization vs. instrumental learning and 3. approach and avoidance behavior towards money and drink stimuli. The investigators investigate how alcohol influences the performance during these tasks, whether alcohol effects differ between high- and low-risk subjects, and whether task performance under alcohol predicts future AUDs. Participants will be followed up after three years. The project investigates whether single doses of alcohol affect the conditioning of monetary reward or alcoholic stimuli, impair instrumental learning, and enhance stimulus-response associations. The investigators want to test whether individual performance parameters are related to other risk factors for AUDs, e.g. family history of alcoholism or impulsivity. ;

Study Design

Observational Model: Cohort, Time Perspective: Prospective

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alcoholism

• NCT number: NCT01858818
• Study type: Observational
• Source: Technische Universität Dresden
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 2013
• Completion date: October 2014