Working Memory and Delay Discounting in a Subclinical Problem Drinking Population (2011)

Undergraduates: Nguyen Hai Van Martina Le, Elly Steel Chris Smith Jose Lopez

Faculty Advisor: Charlotte Boettiger
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Substance abuse, including alcoholism, affects a large part of our population such that much research has been done to pinpoint underlying causes from a cognitive and neurobiological perspective. Many studies have focused on behavioral impulsivity, a characteristic widely accepted as a key risk factor for substance abuse disorders. To measure impulsivity, scales and behavioral tasks have been developed, one of them being the delay discounting paradigm, which quantifies differences in decision-making between abstinent alcoholics and normal controls. Using this task, we have previously linked alcoholism to higher levels of cognitive impulsivity and impulsive trait. However, underlying neurobiological processes relating impulsivity to substance abuse are unknown. It is reasonable to believe that executive cognitive functions such as working memory play a role in cognitive impulsivity and thus substance abuse, as these processes are thought to be involved in evaluating choice alternatives and reward outcomes. Neural mechanisms may also underlie both impulsivity and frontal lobe executive functions. These possible explanations are explored in the present study by examining performance on an n-back working memory task and a delay discounting task in a subclinical group of alcohol users. Similar to previous research which has associated poor executive function with substance abuse, results are indicating a relationship of poorer working memory function with problem alcohol use.