Actively Recruiting
Neural Correlates During Alcohol Intoxication
Led by Ohio State University · Updated on 2025-03-27
144
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
168 weeks
Total Duration
On this page
Sponsors
O
Ohio State University
Lead Sponsor
N
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Collaborating Sponsor
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
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.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
Neural Correlates During Alcohol Intoxication
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Age between 21 and 55 years and right-handed
- Not a current alcohol abstainer in the past 3 months
- Consume more than 10 drinks per week or binge drink at least once a month
- Not currently in or seeking treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)
- Psychopathy score (PCL-SV) less than 18
- Able and willing to abstain from alcohol for 24 hours before MRI scanning
- Physically healthy without metal implants, plates, or screws in body or head
- If a smoker, consume no more than 15 cigarettes per day
- Able to give informed consent
- For aggressive behavior (AGG) participants: Life History of Aggression (LHA) score greater than 12
- AGG participants must report at least two angry outbursts per week for the past 3 months or three significant aggressive outbursts in the past year
- Angry outbursts are out of proportion to provocation, not premeditated, cause distress or impairment, and do not occur exclusively during another disorder
- No lifetime history of Alcohol Use Disorder for AGG participants
- For AUD participants: meet DSM-5 criteria for AUD without significant withdrawal history
- For AUD+AGG participants: meet criteria for both AUD and AGG
- For healthy controls: no current or past AUD, LHA score less than 12, and no major psychiatric disorder
You will not qualify if you...
- Younger than 21 or older than 55 years
- Current DSM-5 substance use disorder other than tobacco (if smoking more than 15 cigarettes per day)
- History of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, organic mental syndrome, or intellectual disability (IQ less than 70)
- Positive drug screen for amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, phencyclidine, or opiates
- Positive urine pregnancy test
- Clinically significant medical condition requiring daily medication
- Psychopathy score (PCL-SV) greater than 18
- Score greater than 8 on Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment-Revised (CIWA-Ar)
- Treatment with antipsychotic medications within two weeks before study
- Current suicidal ideation
- Metal in body, history of loss of consciousness longer than 5 minutes, left-handedness, or body weight over 300 pounds
- Unable or unwilling to abstain from alcohol for 24 hours and recreational drugs for 48 hours prior to session
- Unable to comply with study procedures
- Unable to sign informed consent
- Taking anticoagulants
- Drinks less than 2 drinks per week
- Has not had a binge drinking episode in the past 3 months (5+ drinks for men, 4+ drinks for women)
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
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Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
J
Julian Roberts, R.N.
CONTACT
How is the study designed?
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Masking
DOUBLE
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Model
PARALLEL
Primary Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Number of Arms
2
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