Alcohol and the Social Brain: an Alcohol-Administration Hyperscanning Study

Recruiting

• Conditions: Alcohol Drinking; Alcohol Use Disorder; Alcohol Intoxication; Alcohol; Harmful Use; Alcoholism; Binge Drinking

• Registration Number: NCT06687525
• Lead Sponsor: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Brief Summary

In this study, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context.

Detailed Description

Objective: Alcohol's ability to boost mood in the face of stress is perhaps its most notoriously addictive property, long held by researchers to be of critical importance for understanding alcohol use disorder (AUD) etiology. Yet, while most real-world alcohol consumption occurs in social settings, in the context of laboratory studies, participants have almost always consumed alcohol alone. The discrepancy between real-world and laboratory contexts emerges as particularly stark in the neuroimaging literature, where no alcohol-administration study to date has incorporated in-vivo social context. In this first alcohol-administration study to leverage EEG hyperscanning methods, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context.

Specifically, this study aims to characterize the mechanisms driving social reward from alcohol in the context of stress and elucidate the role of social processes and novel social context in driving problem drinking.

Study Population: Participants will consist of 240 regular drinkers, aged 21-30, with no reported history of severe alcohol use disorder.

Design: In the laboratory arm of the study, individuals will be randomly assigned to consume either a moderate dose of alcohol or a control beverage in stranger dyads. Participants will engage in both structured and unstructured tasks aimed at assessing social engagement and threat sensitivity. EEG and ERP data will be collected from both participants simultaneously. In the ambulatory study arm, participants will wear transdermal sensors to assess BAC and will further provide information about their mood and their social contexts in response to random prompts.

Outcome Measures: Primary outcome measures include EEG measures of inter-brain entrainment as well as ERP metrics derived from task contexts (both players and observers). Additional outcomes include measures of positive mood, negative mood, and social bonding. Finally, drinking behaviors will be assessed via transdermal ambulatory alcohol sensors and longitudinal self-reports of drinking.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2024-04-05
• Study First Submitted: 2024-08-26
• Status Verified: 2024-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-11-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-11-11
• Study First Posted: 2024-11-13
• Last Update Posted: 2024-11-13
• Primary Completion: 2028-06-01
• Study Completion: 2028-06-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 240

Inclusion Criteria

• Between the ages of 21 and 30
• Regularly consumes alcohol

Exclusion Criteria

• History of adverse reaction to the amount of beverage employed in the study
• Have a history of major problems associated with alcohol
• Take medications that could adversely interact with alcohol
• Have medical conditions that contraindicate alcohol administration
• Individuals with a history of skull fractures or who indicate discomfort with EEG procedures used
• Female participant is pregnant or trying to become pregnant

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Inter-brain entrainment	During active laboratory beverage manipulation exposure (during or immediately after beverage administration, at which time participants in the alcohol condition will register a positive BAC)	The association between dyad-members EEG signals during the hyperscanning task
Feedback-related negativity	During active laboratory beverage manipulation exposure (during or immediately after beverage administration, at which time participants in the alcohol condition will register a positive BAC)	An ERP component calculated from a time-estimation task
Ambulatory Drinking	14 days	Drinking behavior assessed outside the laboratory using ambulatory assessment
Longitudinal Drinking Problems	Up to 24 months post-baseline	Drinking assessed at longitudinal follow-up

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; 🇺🇸 Champaign, Illinois, United States