ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2017
Neurophysiological capacity in a working memory task differentiates dependent from nondependent heavy drinkers and controls.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Common and separable neural alterations in substance use disorders: A coordinate-based meta-analyses of functional neuroimaging studies in humans.Human brain mapping · 2020Pooled it
- Combining acute alcohol administration with accelerated prefrontal theta burst stimulation: A pilot study of feasibility and inhibitory control.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Cognitive effort devaluation and the salience network: a computational model of amotivation in depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Methamphetamine-related working memory difficulties underpinned by reduced frontoparietal responses.Addiction biology · 2024Article
- Alcohol use disorder and time perception: The mediating role of attention and working memory.Addiction biology · 2024Article
- Chronic ethanol alters adrenergic receptor gene expression and produces cognitive deficits in male mice.Neurobiology of stress · 2023Article
- Combining noninvasive brain stimulation with behavioral pharmacology methods to study mechanisms of substance use disorder.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Differential effects of alcohol-drinking patterns on the structure and function of the brain and cognitive performance in young adult drinkers: A pilot study.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- Sex-dependent prefrontal cortex activation in regular cocaine users: A working memory functional magnetic resonance imaging study.Addiction biology · 2021Article
- Adolescent-onset vs. adult-onset cocaine use: Impact on cognitive functioning in animal models and opportunities for translation.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2020Review
- A dual process perspective on advances in cognitive science and alcohol use disorder.Clinical psychology review · 2019Review
- Let's Open the Decision-Making Umbrella: A Framework for Conceptualizing and Assessing Features of Impaired Decision Making in Addiction.Neuropsychology review · 2019Review
- Highlighting the Role of Cognitive and Brain Reserve in the Substance use Disorder Field.Current neuropharmacology · 2019Review
- Effect of GHB-use and GHB-induced comas on dorsolateral prefrontal cortex functioning in humans.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDetermining the neurobehavioral profiles that differentiate heavy drinkers who are and are not alcohol dependent will inform treatment efforts. Working memory is linked to substance use disorders and can serve as a representation of the demand placed on the neurophysiology associated with cognitive control.
methodsBehavior and brain activity (via fMRI) were recorded during an N-Back working memory task in controls (CTRL), nondependent heavy drinkers (A-ND) and dependent heavy drinkers (A-D). Typical and novel step-wise analyses examined profiles of working memory load and increasing task demand, respectively.
resultsPerformance was significantly decreased in A-D during high working memory load (2-Back), compared to CTRL and A-ND. Analysis of brain activity during high load (0-Back vs. 2- Back) showed greater responses in the dorsal lateral and medial prefrontal cortices of A-D than CTRL, suggesting increased but failed compensation. The step-wise analysis revealed that the transition to Low Demand (0-Back to 1-Back) was associated with robust increases and decreases in cognitive control and default-mode brain regions, respectively, in A-D and A-ND but not CTRL. The transition to High Demand (1-Back to 2-Back) resulted in additional engagement of these networks in A-ND and CTRL, but not A-D.
conclusionHeavy drinkers engaged working memory neural networks at lower demand than controls. As demand increased, nondependent heavy drinkers maintained control performance but relied on additional neurophysiological resources, and dependent heavy drinkers did not display further resource engagement and had poorer performance. These results support targeting these brain areas for treatment interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.