Gender effects in implicit associations towards alcohol in patients with alcohol use disorder - preliminary results

Tschümperlin, Raphaela Martina; Batschelet, Hallie Margareta; Moggi, Franz; Rösner, Susanne; Keller, Anne; Wopfner, Alexander; König, Thomas; Soravia, Leila Maria; Stein, Maria (29 November 2018). Gender effects in implicit associations towards alcohol in patients with alcohol use disorder - preliminary results (Unpublished). In: DGPPN. Berlin. 29.11.2018.

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Background
• Current neuroscientific theories postulate an imbalance between
enhanced automatic reaction towards alcohol and impaired inhibitory
control as a significant factor in the development and maintenance of an
alcohol use disorder (AUD) [e.g. 1].
• Implicit associations, as measured with the Implicit Association Test (IAT),
could indicate the strength of such automatic reactions.
• Preclinical behavioral studies reveal that women and men differ in their
implicit associations and that these associations predict the success of
inhibition trainings [e.g. 2, 3].
• Neurophysiological findings in other research areas show ERP changes
regarding implicit associations [e.g. 4, 5].
• Studies investigating the neurophysiological correlates of implicit alcohol
associations and gender effects in patients with AUD are missing.

Methods
• 66 abstinent inpatients with AUD attending a specialized treatment
program were measured with a 64-channel EEG.
• All performed an IAT to assess positive and negative implicit associations
towards alcohol.
• After preprocessing, two ERPs were obtained for each subject over all
correct trials: alcohol-positive and alcohol-negative.
• First, a 2x2 TANOVA with the between-factor gender (male, female) and
the within-factor valence (alcohol-positive, alcohol-negative) was
conducted to test for interactions. Second, GFP analyses were calculated
for the same interactions.

Results
➢ Main effect Gender (426 – 544ms)
Men and women differ significantly
in their topography.
➢ Main effect Valence (350 – 562ms)
Topographies between alcohol-positive and
alcohol-negative assignments vary significantly.
➢ Interaction Gender x Valence (656-712ms)
While men show higher GFP during the alcohol-negative
assignments, women have higher GFP during alcoholpositive
pairings.

Neurophysiological gender effects of an Alcohol-
Valence-IAT in AUD are examined for the first time.
• During the late P3, women exhibit stronger frontal
positivity, whereas men display a stronger lateralized
posterior positivity. Further, alcohol-negative
allocations show stronger frontal positivity than
alcohol-positive assignments.
➢ Networks activated during the (late) P3 differ in terms
of gender and valence.
Outlook
➢ Comparison of patients and
healthy controls
➢ Analyses of behavioral data
➢ Behavioral & neurophysiological
change after an
inhibition training
➢ Interaction Gender x Valence (656-712ms)
While men show higher GFP during the alcohol-negative
assignments, women have higher GFP during alcoholpositive
pairings.
➢ Main effect Gender (426 – 544ms)
Men and women differ significantly
in their topography.
➢ Main effect Valence (350 – 562ms)
Topographies between alcohol-positive and
alcohol-negative assignments vary significantly.
Implicit Association Task (IAT): During alcohol-positive blocks, the assignment of alcohol
cues is consistently paired with positive words. In alcohol-negative blocks, alcohol cues
and negative words share the same allocation.

Discussion
• Neurophysiological gender effects of an Alcohol-
Valence-IAT in AUD are examined for the first time.
• During the late P3, women exhibit stronger frontal
positivity, whereas men display a stronger lateralized
posterior positivity. Further, alcohol-negative
allocations show stronger frontal positivity than
alcohol-positive assignments.
➢ Networks activated during the (late) P3 differ in terms
of gender and valence.
• Men show higher GFP during the alcohol-negative
while women have higher GFP during alcoholpositive
allocations. This indicates that in women
with AUD, more activation during the processing of
positive associations is required, whereas the
opposite pattern occurs in men.
➢ Women could have less positive associations
towards alcohol than men, which is in line with
previous research.

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