Neural Correlates During Alcohol Intoxication

• Status: Recruiting
• Trial end date: 2026-08-31
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Alcohol intoxication is responsible for a large proportion of violent crime/assault and personal injury in our society. While a number of variables have been associated with alcohol-related aggression, high trait aggression and impaired executive function have been identified as key factors. Both Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Impulsive Aggression behavior (AGG) are related to impaired social-emotional information processing (SEIP) whereby social threat cues, especially ones that are ambiguous in nature, lead to hostile attribution and negative emotional response to the "other" and, then, aggression against the "other". Thus, understanding the underlying neuroscience of SEIP under the influence of alcohol will be critical to identifying targets for intervention to reduce alcohol-related aggressive behavior. In addition to potential pharmacologic and cognitive-behavioral based interventions, such interventions may also involve the rehabilitation of aberrant neuronal circuits underlying social cognitive function through neuroplasticity-based remediation exercises. This study is designed to see how brain activation of cortico-limbic circuits involving social-emotional information processing, analyzed by fMRI Imaging, are impacted by alcohol administration in those with and without aggressive disorders and with and without alcohol use disorder.

• Phase: Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Ohio State University
• Collaborator: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
• Treatments: Ethanol

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Inclusion Criteria for All Participants: All candidates for this study must meet the following criteria:

1. 21 to 55 years of age (and be righted handed) and not a current (past 3 months) alcohol abstainer.

2. Consumes > 10 drinks/week or reports binge drinking at least once a month, and is not in, or currently seeking, treatment for AUD.

3. PCL-SV psychopathy score < 18

4. Able/willing to abstain from alcohol for 24 hours before MRI scanning.

5. Physically healthy (confirmed by comprehensive medical history and physical exam) and does not have metal implants, plates, or screws in body or head (MRI safety issue).

6. If a smoker, consumes no more than 15 cigarettes per day.

7. Able to give informed consent.

2. Inclusion Criteria for AGG (Only) Participants: In addition to the above, all AGG candidates must meet the following criteria:

1. Life History of Aggression (LHA) score > 12

2. In addition AGG participants must report:

1. Current history of at least two (2) angry outbursts a week (on average) for the past three months and/or three significant angry aggressive outbursts in which other people are assaulted and/or property is damaged in the past year.

2. Angry outbursts are out of proportion to provocation and not associated with a tangible goal (not premeditated).

3. Angry outbursts are associated with distress and/or impairment;

4. Angry outbursts do not occur exclusively during another disorder or condition.

3. No lifetime history of AUD (from DSM-5 criteria).

3. Inclusion Criteria for AUD (Only) Participants: In addition to the above, all AUD candidates must meet the following criteria:

1. Meets DSM-5 criteria for alcohol use disorder (AUD) without significant history of alcohol withdrawal, seizures, or delirium tremens.

2. Consumes > 10 drinks/week or reports binge drinking at least once a month, and is not in, or currently seeking, treatment for AUD.

4. Inclusion Criteria for AUD+ / AGG+ Participants: These participants meet criteria for both AUD and AGG as described above.

5. Inclusion Criteria for Non-AGG/Non-AUD (Healthy Control) Participants: All Non-AGG/Non-AUD candidates must meet the following criteria:

1. Does not meet DSM-5 criteria for current or past alcohol use disorder (AUD).

2. LHA score is less than 12.

3. Does not meet DSM-5 Criteria for a current, or past, major psychiatric disorder.

b. Study Exclusion Criteria:

1) < 21 years of age or > 55 years of age. 2) Meets criteria for other (Non-AUD) current DSM-5 Substance Use Disorder (excluding tobacco use disorder provided the participant consumes no more than 15 cigarettes per day).

3) Life history of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, organic mental syndrome or intellectual deficiency (i.e., IQ < 70 by WRAT).

4) Drug screen positive for amphetamines, barbituates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, phencyclidine, or opiates.

5) Positive urine pregnancy test 6) Clinically significant medical condition (current and active medical condition requiring daily prescribed medication).

7) PCL-SV psychopathy score > 18 (see above). 8) Score > 8 on the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment-Revised (CIWA-Ar).

9) Treatment with antipsychotic medications within two weeks of study entry. 10) Current suicidal ideation. 11) Metal in body, history of > 5 min loss of consciousness, left-handedness or body weight > 300lbs (fMRI exclusions).

12) Unable/unwilling to abstain from alcohol for 24 hours and recreational drugs for 48 hours prior to session arrival.

13) Unable to comply with study procedures. 14) Unable to sign informed consent document. 15) Taking of anticoagulants. 16) Drinks less than 2 drinks per week 17) Has not had a binge drinking episode (5+ for men, 4+ for women) in the past 3 months.