Search resultsThe effects of acute alcohol on psychomotor, set-shifting, and working memory performance in older men and women
Title
The effects of acute alcohol on psychomotor, set-shifting, and working memory performance in older men and women
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2015
Authors
Journal
Alcohol
Volume
49
Issue
3
Pagination
185 - 191
Date published
2015
ISBN
07418329 (ISSN)
Keywords
Acute administration, acute drug administration, Adult, age distribution, Aged, aging, alcohol, alcohol consumption, article, cognition, controlled study, dose response, drinking behavior, Female, human, human experiment, male, Middle Aged, normal human, Older adults, onset age, performance, psychologic test, psychomotor performance, set shifting, sex difference, Sex differences, task performance, Trail Making Test, working memory, Working memory task
Abstract
A limited number of publications have documented the effects of acute alcohol administration among older adults. Among these, only a few have investigated sex differences within this population. The current project examined the behavioral effects of acute low- and moderate-dose alcohol on 62 older (ages 55-70) male and female, healthy, light to moderate drinkers. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three dose conditions: placebo (peak breath alcohol concentration [BrAC] of 0mg/dL), low (peak BrAC of 40mg/dL), and moderate (peak BrAC of 65mg/dL). Tasks assessed psychomotor, set-shifting, and working memory performance. Better set-shifting abilities were observed among women, whereas men demonstrated more efficient working memory, regardless of dose. The moderate-dose group did not significantly differ from the placebo group on any task. However, the low-dose group performed better than the moderate-dose group across measures of set shifting and working memory. Relative to the placebo group, the low-dose group exhibited better working memory, specifically for faces. Interestingly, there were no sex by dose interactions. These data suggest that, at least for our study's task demands, low and moderate doses of alcohol do not significantly hinder psychomotor, set-shifting, or working memory performance among older adults. In fact, low-dose alcohol may facilitate certain cognitive abilities. Furthermore, although sex differences in cognitive abilities were observed, these alcohol doses did not differentially affect men and women. Further investigation is necessary to better characterize the effects of sex and alcohol dose on cognition in older adults.