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. 2014 Sep;75(5):870-9.
doi: 10.15288/jsad.2014.75.870.

Acute effects of moderate alcohol on psychomotor, set shifting, and working memory function in older and younger social drinkers

Jeff Boissoneault  1 , Alfredo Sklar  2 , Robert Prather  2 , Sara Jo Nixon  2
Affiliations

Acute effects of moderate alcohol on psychomotor, set shifting, and working memory function in older and younger social drinkers

Jeff Boissoneault et al. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

ABSTRACT.

Objective: Despite substantial attention being paid to the health benefits of moderate alcohol intake as a lifestyle, the acute effects of alcohol on psychomotor and working memory function in older adults are poorly understood.

Method: The effects of low to moderate doses of alcohol on neurobehavioral function were investigated in 39 older (55-70 years; 15 men) and 51 younger (25-35 years; 31 men) social drinkers. Subjects received one of three randomly assigned doses (placebo, .04 g/dl, or .065 g/dl target breath alcohol concentration). After beverage consumption, they completed the Trail Making Test Parts A and B and a working memory task requiring participants to determine whether probe stimuli were novel or had been presented in a preceding set of cue stimuli. Efficiency of working memory task performance was derived from accuracy and reaction time measures.

Results: Alcohol was associated with poorer Trail Making Test Part B performance for older subjects. Working memory task results suggested an Age × Dose interaction for performance efficiency, with older but not younger adults demonstrating alcohol-related change. Directionality of change and whether effects on accuracy or reaction time drove the change depended on the novelty of probe stimuli.

Conclusions: This study replicates previous research indicating increased susceptibility of older adults to moderate alcohol-induced psychomotor and set-shifting impairment and suggests such susceptibility extends to working memory performance. Further research using additional tasks and assessing other neuropsychological domains is needed. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 75, 870-879, 2014).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) measures taken across the study session, by age group and dose. Significant effects of dose level, F(1, 53) > 21, p < .0001, but not age group were detected at each time point (ps > .40). As expected, a paired-samples t test indicated that mean BrACs were higher at working memory task administration than Trail Making Test (TMT) administration, t(58) = 4.90, p < .001. WM = working memory; mins = minutes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Analysis of dose effects by age group on hit performance. (A) Trend-level interaction of age group and dose on hit efficiency, F(2, 84) = 2.53, p = .09. Older subjects (Ss) were more efficient at .04 g/dl than placebo, t(23) = 2.34, p = .03. No dose effects on hit efficiency were detected for younger subjects. (B) Older subjects at .04 g/dl had higher hit rates than those at placebo, t(23) = 2.03, p = .05, or .065 g/dl, although at a trend level, t(25) = 1.95, p = .07. No dose effects on hit accuracy were noted for younger subjects (ps > .11). (C) No alcohol dose effects on hit reaction time (RT) were detected for either age group (ps > .11).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Analysis of age group by dose effects on correct rejection performance. (A) A significant interaction of age group and dose on correct rejection efficiency, F(2, 84) = 4.04, p = .02. Older subjects (Ss) at .065 g/dl had significantly lower efficiency than placebo, t(24) = 2.06, p = .04; an opposite trend-level effect was noted for younger subjects, t(34) = 1.81, p = .07. (B) Significant effect of dose on correct rejection accuracy across age groups, F(2, 84) = 7.57, p = .001. Subjects at the .065 g/dl dose level had lower accuracy than those at .04 g/dl, t(53) = 2.96, p = .02, or placebo, t(48) = 3.35, p = .001. (C) Trend-level Age Group × Dose interaction on correct rejection (CR) reaction time (RT), F(2, 84) = 2.78, p = .07. The .065 g/dl dose level was associated with decreased RT compared with placebo for younger subjects, t(34) = 1.72, p = .09). Older subjects showed a nonsignificant increase in RT (p > .12).
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