Afferent Neurocardiac Signals, Cue Reactivity, and Cognitive Control

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Conscious attempts to regulate alcohol use are often undermined by automatic attention and arousal processes activated by alcohol cues, as well as by diminished ability to inhibit in-the-moment behaviors. The current study will examine whether a brief behavioral intervention of slow breathing paced at a resonance frequency of the cardiovascular system can interrupt automatic alcohol cue reactivity and enhance cognitive control in binge drinkers. Results from the proposed study may provide new prevention and intervention targets to interrupt unhealthy drinking behaviors.

Official Title
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Afferent Neurocardiac Signals, Cue Reactivity, and Cognitive Control

Conditions
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Binge Drinking

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Resonance breathing
* Behavioral: Low demand cognitive task


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Must report at least 2 binge drinking episodes in the past month Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision Exclusion Criteria: History or presence of serious psychiatric disorders, neurological disorders, or head injury resulting in a loss of consciousness Presence of any serious medical condition Report of more than a few occasions (3-4) of illicit drug use, except for cannabis, in the preceding year

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 35 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Subjects will complete an active treatment of slow resonance paced breathing and a control visual color block task on separate days, separated by approximately one week
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Resonance paced breathing<br>Active resonance breathing task consisting of synchronizing breathing with a visual pacer (E-Z Air, Thought Technology, Ltd., Plattsburgh, NY) that moves up (inhale) and down (exhale) at the rate of 0.1 Hz (6 breaths per min) | Behavioral: Resonance breathing<br>* Participants will synchronize their breathing with a visual pacer (E-Z Air, Thought Technology, Ltd., Plattsburgh, NY) that moves up (inhale) and down (exhale) at the rate of 0.1 Hz (6 breaths per min)<br>|
| Active Comparator: Low demand vanilla control<br>A low-demand cognitive vanilla task wherein different colored rectangles are presented for 10 sec each, and participants are instructed to silently count the number of blue rectangles | Behavioral: Low demand cognitive task<br>* Different colored rectangles are presented for 10 sec each, and participants are instructed to silently count the number of blue rectangles<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| N2 ERP amplitude (in microvolts) elicited from an Alcohol Cued Go/No-Go task | The N2 component (in microvolts) of the event-related potential occurring 250-350 ms after stimulus presentation at frontal and central electrode sites during an Alcohol Cued Go/No-Go task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| N2pc ERP amplitude (in microvolts) elicited from a visual dot probe detection task | The N2pc component of the event-related potential occurring 200-275 ms after stimulus presentation at parietal and occipital electrode sites (ipsilateral minus contralateral hemisphere activity) during a modified visual dot probe detection task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| P3b ERP amplitude (in microvolts) elicited from a picture-viewing task | The P3b component of the event-related potential occurring 300-600 ms after stimulus presentation at central and parietal electrode sites during a picture viewing task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| N2 ERP latency (in milliseconds) elicited from an Alcohol Cued Go/No-Go task | The latency of the N2 component of the event-related potential from frontal and central electrode sites during a picture viewing task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task. Latency will be determined using 50% area latency from a difference wave between task conditions | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| N2pc ERP latency (in milliseconds) elicited from a visual dot probe detection task | The latency of the N2pc component of the event-related potential from parietal and occipital electrode sites during a visual dot probe detection task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task. Latency will be determined using 50% area latency from a difference wave between task conditions | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| P3b ERP latency (in milliseconds) elicited from a picture-viewing task | The latency of the P3b component of the event-related potential from central and parietal electrode sites during a picture viewing task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task. Latency will be determined using 50% area latency from a difference wave between task conditions | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| Task accuracy from the behavioral response during the Alcohol Cued Go/No-Go task | Task accuracy as a percentage of correct behavioral responses to the task during the Alcohol Cued Go/No-Go ERP task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| Reaction time from the behavioral response during the Alcohol Cued Go/No-Go task | Reaction time for the correct behavioral responses to the task measured in milliseconds during the Alcohol Cued Go/No-Go ERP task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| Task accuracy from the behavioral response during the visual dot probe detection task | Task accuracy as a percentage of correct behavioral responses to the task during the visual dot probe detection task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 
| Reaction time from the behavioral response during the visual dot probe detection task | Reaction time for the correct behavioral responses to the task measured in milliseconds during the visual dot probe ERP task following a 5-minute course of resonance breathing compared to a low-demand control task | Immediate; Difference between the active resonance breathing compared to the low demand cognitive task occurring one week apart | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Alcohol Consumption, Baroreflex, Arousal, Breathing, Cardiovascular System, Cognition, Electrophysiology, Event-Related Potentials, Heavy Drinking, Attention, Individual Differences, Alcohol Cue, Brief Intervention, Cognitive Control, Cue Reactivity, Drinking Behavior, Young Adult, Heart Rate Variability