Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Bowden-Jones, H. Articles by Joyce, E. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Bowden-Jones, H. Articles by Joyce, E. Alcohol

Risk-Taking on Tests Sensitive to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Dysfunction Predicts Early Relapse in Alcohol Dependency: A Pilot Study

Received May 15, 2003; revised April 13, 2004; accepted June 8, 2004. From the Department of Psychological Medicine, Imperial College, London, England; and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, England. Address correspondence to Professor Joyce, Dept Psychological Medicine, Imperial College, Charing Cross Campus, St Dunstan’s Rd., London W6 8RP, UK; e.joyce{at}imperial.ac.uk (E-mail).

ABSTRACT

Twenty one patients in a residential rehabilitation program fulfilling International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD) criteria for alcohol dependence syndrome were recruited. On neuropsychological tests, alcohol dependent patients relapsed early if they made choices governed by immediate gain irrespective of later outcome, which is consistent with dysfunctional ventromedial-prefrontal cortex mediating the inability to resist the impulse to drink despite ultimately deleterious effects. The authors suggest that the use of neuropsychological tasks of decision making may have several advantages over more conventional strategies for studying alcoholism.

Key Words: alcohol dependence • ventromedial prefrontal cortex • risk-taking

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. DOM, B. DE WILDE, W. HULSTIJN, W. VAN DEN BRINK, and B. SABBE BEHAVIOURAL ASPECTS OF IMPULSIVITY IN ALCOHOLICS WITH AND WITHOUT A CLUSTER-B PERSONALITY DISORDER Alcohol Alcohol., July 1, 2006; 41(4): 412 - 420. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Bowden-Jones, M. McPhillips, and E. M. Joyce Neurobehavioural characteristics and relapse in addiction The British Journal of Psychiatry, May 1, 2006; 188(5): 494 - 494. [Full Text] [PDF]

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2005 American Neuropsychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us