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Behavioral and neural correlates of aggression and impulsivity over the course of alcohol dependence

Behavioral and neural correlates of aggression and impulsivity over the course of alcohol dependence - CAI

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
DRKS
Registry ID
DRKS00028785
Enrollment
100
Registered
2022-10-24
Start date
2022-09-19
Completion date
Unknown
Last updated
2026-03-02

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Healthy control participants F10

Interventions

Group 1: alcohol dependent patients Day 1: structured clinical interview forDSM (SCID), alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT), NEO five-factor-inventory (NEO-FFI), aggression questionnair

Sponsors

Klinik für psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen
Lead Sponsor

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 63 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Alcoholdependent patients with a priary diagnosis will be included within an age range of 18-55. Participants have to be right-handed and native german speakers.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Exclusion criteria are any MRI contraindications (e.g. metal implants), neurological disorders and for healthy controls any acute psychiatric disorders.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
The goal of the proposed study is to identify behavioral and neural correlates associated with aggression and impulsivity over the course of alcohol dependence ranging from at-risk individuals to acute dependent patients to abstinence. Risky and ambiguous decision-making will be used as measures of a impulsivity. It is planned to include four groups: 1) alcohol dependent patients, 2) individuals abstinent from alcohol but with diagnosed alcohol dependence 3) healthy individuals, 4) first-degree relatives of alcohol dependent patients. To answer these questions, the proposed project will use aggression and impulsivity paradigms during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session in acute and abstinent alcohol dependent patients, first-degree relatives and healthy controls. Thus, we will be able to provide insight on aggression and impulsivity within the different stages of addiction and its heritable effects. A crucial advantage of this approach is the use of different impulsivity measures to enable the disentanglement of risky and ambiguous decision-making and the corresponding neural structures. To investigate potential changes in functional connectivity, resting-state data will be acquired before the paradigms. Different scales (German versions) will be used for the assessment of personality traits (NEO-FFI) and specifically aggression (AQ, RPQ), impulsivity (BIS-11, UPPS, Dickman Impulsivity inventory), risk (DOSPERT), affect (PANAS), tolerance of ambiguity (IMA) and sensitivity to reward and sensitivity to punishment (SPSRQ, BIS/BAS). Further, a battery of (neuropsychological) tests will be administered to assess verbal intelligence (e.g. WST), short-term and working memory (e.g. WMS-R), visuomotor processing and cognitive flexibility (e.g. TMT-A and TMT-B), and for executive functioning (e.g. RWT) and for frontal functions (WCST). Furthermore, we will also investigate the alcohol (AUDIT) consumption of all participants. To ensure that the partic

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
The aim of this approach is to identify behavioral and neural correlates associated with decision-making and aggressive behavior over the different stages of alcohol addiction. Abstinent patients will be included to explore potential recovery of structural and functional abnormalities, while first-degree relatives will be included to investigate the effects of a positive family history for alcohol abuse. A second aim of the study is to discover potential genetic markers that constitute a vulnerability factor for the development of substance abuse. Therefore, we plan to determine the OPRM1 genotype (A118G), MAOA, COMT, CHRNA5 and 5HTTLPR, which has been implied to be involved in social behavior and addiction.

Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactFranziska Göttgens

Klinik für Psychatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, Uniklink RWTH Aachen

fgoettgens@ukaachen.de0241 8036585

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Mar 14, 2026