Silent trace eliminates differential eyeblink learning in abstinent alcoholics

Chronic alcoholism has profound effects on the brain, including volume reductions in regions critical for eyeblink classical conditioning (EBCC). The current study challenged abstinent alcoholics using delay (n = 20) and trace (n = 17) discrimination/reversal EBCC. Comparisons revealed a significant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2009-07, Vol.6 (7), p.2007-2027
Main Authors: Fortier, Catherine Brawn, Maksimovskiy, Arkadiy L, Venne, Jonathan R, LaFleche, Ginette, McGlinchey, Regina E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Alcohol
alcoholism
Alcoholism - complications
Alcoholism - physiopathology
Alcoholism - psychology
Blinking
Brain
Discrimination
Discrimination Learning
Female
Humans
Learning
Learning Disorders - etiology
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychology
Q1
Reversal Learning
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Summary:Chronic alcoholism has profound effects on the brain, including volume reductions in regions critical for eyeblink classical conditioning (EBCC). The current study challenged abstinent alcoholics using delay (n = 20) and trace (n = 17) discrimination/reversal EBCC. Comparisons revealed a significant difference between delay and trace conditioning performance during reversal (t (35) = 2.08, p < 0.05). The difference between the two tasks for discrimination was not significant (p = 0.44). These data support the notion that alcoholics are increasingly impaired in the complex task of reversing a previously learned discrimination when a silent trace interval is introduced. Alcoholics' impairment in flexibly altering learned associations may be central to their continued addiction.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph6072007