Attentional alterations in alcohol dependence are underpinned by specific executive control deficits

Maurage, Pierre [UCL] de Timary, Philippe [UCL] Billieux, Joël [UCL] Collignon, Marie [UCL] Heeren, Alexandre [UCL]

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed at exploring the integrity of the attentional system in alcohol-dependence with a unitary and theoretically-grounded task. Attentional biases and deficits play a central role in the maintenance of alcohol-dependence but have been little explored. The Attention Network Test was used to precisely explore attentional alterations among alcohol-dependent participants, and centrally the differential deficit across three attentional networks (alerting, orienting, executive control). METHOD: 30 recently detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals were compared to 30 matched healthy controls. The Attention Network Test was administered. This task requires identifying the orientation of a central arrow replacing a cue and which is surrounded by flankers. On this basis, performance indexes (accuracy and reaction time) were computed for the three attention networks. RESULTS: Alcohol-dependent individuals showed a differential deficit across attention networks as compared to controls, with a preserved performance for alerting and orienting networks but impaired executive control (p < 0.001). This deficit was not related to psychopathological comorbidities but was correlated with the duration and intensity of alcohol consumption habits. CONCLUSION: Attentional alterations in alcohol-dependence are centrally due to a specific alteration of executive control. Intervention programs focusing on executive components of attention should be promoted, and these results support the frontal lobe hypothesis.