@article{ref1,
title="Effect of alcohol on encoding and consolidation of memory for alcohol-related images",
journal="Alcoholism: clinical and experimental research",
year="2016",
author="Weafer, Jessica and Gallo, David A. and de Wit, Harriet",
volume="40",
number="7",
pages="1540-1547",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Drug and alcohol abusers develop strong memories for drug-related stimuli. Preclinical studies suggest that such memories are a result of drug actions on reward pathways, which facilitate learning about drug-related stimuli. However, few controlled studies have investigated how drugs affect memory for drug-related stimuli in humans. <br><br>METHODS: The current study examined the direct effect of alcohol on memory for images of alcohol-related or neutral beverages. Participants received alcohol (0.8 g/kg) either before viewing visual images (encoding condition; n = 20) or immediately after viewing them (consolidation condition; n = 20). A third group received placebo both before and after viewing the images (control condition; n = 19). Memory retrieval was tested exactly 48 hours later, in a drug-free state. <br><br>RESULTS: Alcohol impaired memory in the encoding condition and enhanced memory in the consolidation condition, but these effects did not differ for alcohol-related and neutral beverage stimuli. However, in the encoding condition, participants who experienced greater alcohol-induced stimulation exhibited better memory for alcohol-related, but not neutral beverage stimuli. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that individual differences in sensitivity to the positive, rewarding effects of alcohol are associated with greater propensity to remember alcohol-related stimuli encountered while intoxicated. As such, stimulant responders may form stronger memory associations with alcohol-related stimuli, which might then influence their drinking behavior.<br><br>Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0145-6008",
doi="10.1111/acer.13103",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer.13103"
}