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Originalartikel

Object Alternation in Alcohol Dependent Patients without Amnesic Syndrome

Published Online:July 10, 2008https://doi.org/10.1024/1016-264X.19.1.33

Abstract

Several studies indicate that the frontal cortex is sensitive to the toxic effects of alcohol. Recent studies of our group revealed an impairment of alcohol dependent subjects in object alternation. One major problem of these studies is that they all used object alternation embedded in a spatial presentation and with two spatially arranged response buttons: a left and a right hand response key. The deficit in alternation tasks may be due to problems in processing these spatial features.

We investigated 24 detoxified alcohol dependent patients, who were in a long term treatment program, and 28 control subjects matched for intelligence and age, using a new object alternation paradigm avoiding confounding of spatial effects.

The results indicate that object alternation is impaired in long term alcohol dependent patients without amnesic syndrome, even when no differential spatial response is afforded. We suggest that internal control on a cognitive level, as well as on a behavioral level, may be a fundamental problem in addiction and might be related to ventromedial and orbitofrontal dysfunction.


Objct Alternation bei Alkoholabhängigen ohne amnestisches Syndrom

Viele Studien zur Alkoholabhängigkeit und Kognition haben ergeben, dass der frontale Kortex sensitiv für alkoholtoxische Effekte ist. Einige Arbeiten unserer Arbeitsgruppe zeigten bei Alkoholabhängigen ein Defizit in Object Alternation, das jedoch mit visuell räumlichen Effekten konfundiert war. Wir verglichen jetzt 24 alkoholabhängige Patienten, die entgiftet waren und sich in langzeittherapeutischer Behandlung einer Klinik befanden, mit 28 alters- und bildungsgleichen gesunden Kontrollpersonen anhand eines Object Alternation Paradigmas, das räumliche Positionseffekte und Handlungswechsel vermied.

Im Ergebnis zeigte sich, dass Alkoholabhängige Patienten ohne amnestisches Syndrom in Object Alternation beeinträchtigt sind, auch wenn konfundierende Variablen kontrolliert werden. Somit handelt es sich um ein fundamentales exekutives Defizit der internalen Kontrolle von Verhalten bei Abhängigkeitserkrankten, das möglicherweise in Beziehung zu ventromedialen und orbitofrontalen Funktionsstörungen gesehen werden kann.

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