@article{ref1,
title="Acute effects of moderate alcohol on psychomotor, set shifting, and working memory function in older and younger social drinkers",
journal="Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs",
year="2014",
author="Boissoneault, Jeff and Sklar, Alfredo and Prather, Robert and Nixon, Sara Jo",
volume="75",
number="5",
pages="870-879",
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. <br><br>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. <br><br>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. <br><br>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).<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1937-1888",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}