EEG | Neuro Adx Lab

Neural Markers of Reward Dysregulation in Alcoholism Relapse Prediction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Project Overview

Neural Markers of Reward Dysregulation in Alcoholism Relapse Prediction

RELAPSE-PREDICT: FCT Exploratory R&D Grant Project (2024.13959.PEX)

This project aims to identify neurobiological and cognitive-behavioral markers of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and evaluate their utility for predicting relapse after treatment. The project applies a multi-method clinical and translational approach that combines neural, cognitive-behavioral, and physiological measures with a prospective follow-up clinical design. By identifying markers of relapse vulnerability, this project aims to inform more specific targets for prevention and intervention.

Research Aims

Identify neurobiological markers of reward dysregulation in AUD
Characterize cognitive-behavioral markers associated with relapse risk
Evaluate whether multimodal markers predict relapse after treatment
Inform targeted prevention and intervention strategies for AUD

Methods

Neural measures of reward dysregulation and alcohol cue reactivity
Cognitive-behavioral assessment of relapse risk
Physiological markers relevant to relapse risk
Prospective clinical follow-up after treatment

Funding

This work is financed by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the project 2024.13959.PEX

Total funding: 60,000€

Project DOI:

Research Team

Jorge Martins, PI (ISPA-Instituto Universitário)
Rajita Sinha, Co-PI (Yale University)
Bruce Bartholow (University of Iowa)
Francesco Versace (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center)

Social Context, Drinking Motives, and Alcohol Motivation

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Project Overview

This project examines how alcohol-related motivational tendencies are shaped by the interaction between individual drinking motives and social-emotional context. Specifically, the study investigates whether experiences of social exclusion versus social inclusion differentially influence neural reactivity, implicit approach tendencies, and drinking behavior among individuals who drink primarily for coping motives versus enhancement motives. The project focuses on the distinction between alcohol use motivated by the regulation of negative affect and alcohol use motivated by the amplification of positive affect. By combining an experimental social-context manipulation, EEG/ERP measures of alcohol cue reactivity, behavioral indices of alcohol approach tendencies, a laboratory Alcohol Taste Test, and 15-day ecological follow-up, the study aims to clarify how emotional and interpersonal contexts influence alcohol motivation in daily life.

Background

Alcohol use is shaped by distinct motivational pathways, particularly coping motives, involving drinking to reduce negative affect, and enhancement motives, involving drinking to amplify positive affect or pleasure. Coping motives are linked to negative reinforcement processes and greater risk for problematic alcohol use, whereas enhancement motives reflect positive reinforcement processes. Social context may determine when these pathways are activated: social exclusion may increase alcohol motivation among coping drinkers by inducing negative affect, while social inclusion may enhance alcohol motivation among enhancement drinkers by activating positive social reward. However, it remains unclear whether these contexts differentially influence neural alcohol cue reactivity, implicit approach tendencies, and subsequent drinking behavior.

Research Aims

Examine whether social exclusion versus social inclusion influences neural reactivity to alcohol-related cues.
Test whether coping motives moderate the effect of social exclusion on alcohol cue reactivity, implicit alcohol approach tendencies, and alcohol consumption.
Test whether enhancement motives moderate the effect of social inclusion on alcohol cue reactivity, implicit alcohol approach tendencies, and alcohol consumption.
Assess whether ERP indices of alcohol cue reactivity are associated with behavioral measures of implicit alcohol motivation.

Methods

Self-Report Measures

Participants complete questionnaires assessing drinking motives, with a focus on: (1) drinking driven by coping motives and (2) drinking driven by enhancement motives.

Experimental Paradigm

Participants are randomly assigned to one of two Cyberball conditions: (1) social exclusion, in which participants are excluded during the computerized ball-tossing game; and (2) social inclusion, in which participants are included during the game.

Alcohol Cue-Reactivity Task

Participants complete a picture-viewing oddball task while EEG is recorded.
Event-related potentials are used to assess neural reactivity to alcohol-related cues.

Alcohol Approach-Avoidance Task

Participants complete an Alcohol Approach-Avoidance Task to assess implicit motivational tendencies toward alcohol.
Approach bias scores are used as behavioral indices of implicit alcohol motivation.

Alcohol Taste Test

At the end of the laboratory session, participants complete an Alcohol Taste Test that provides a behavioral measure of implicit motivation to consume alcohol in the laboratory.

Ecological Follow-Up

After the laboratory session, participants are followed for 15 days using a smartphone app.
Participants complete brief daily surveys assessing alcohol consumption during the follow-up period.
These data allow the study to examine whether experimentally induced motivational processes predict real-world drinking behavior.

Significance

This study examines why some individuals are more motivated to drink in negative emotional contexts, whereas others are more responsive to positive or socially rewarding contexts. By integrating experimentally manipulated social contexts with EEG/ERP measures, implicit behavioral tasks, laboratory alcohol consumption, and daily follow-up, the project provides a multi-level assessment of alcohol motivation. Findings may clarify when and for whom social exclusion or inclusion increases alcohol motivation, helping to identify motive-specific risk pathways and inform more personalized interventions.

The Role of Reward Deficits in Vulnerability to Alcohol Addiction

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Project Overview

This project investigates whether individual differences in reward processing deficits contribute to vulnerability to alcohol addiction by increasing the susceptibility to develop enhanced motivational value attributed to alcohol cues. Specifically, it examines whether reduced reward sensitivity makes individuals more likely to assign incentive salience to initially neutral stimuli—such as simple geometric shapes—after these stimuli are paired with alcohol-related images and odors. By integrating Pavlovian conditioning, olfactory and visual alcohol cues, EEG/ERP indices, and attentional capture measures, the project aims to clarify how reward deficits may shape cue-driven motivational processes that increase risk for alcohol misuse.

Background

Alcohol addiction is characterized by heightened reactivity to alcohol-related cues, including exaggerated craving, attentional capture, and neural responses to alcohol-associated stimuli. Incentive Sensitization Theory of addiction proposes that repeated alcohol use can sensitize mesocorticolimbic reward circuits, causing alcohol cues to acquire excessive motivational salience. As a result, these cues may come to automatically attract attention, elicit craving, and bias behavior toward alcohol seeking.

At the same time, the Reward Deficiency hypothesis of addiction suggests that some individuals may have blunted responsiveness to natural rewards, potentially reflecting reduced tonic dopaminergic function. These reward deficits may create vulnerability to compensatory reward-seeking and may increase susceptibility to the motivational impact of alcohol cues. Within this integrated framework, reduced baseline reward sensitivity may amplify the acquisition of incentive salience when neutral cues become associated with alcohol.

Despite strong theoretical links between reward deficiency and incentive sensitization, the mechanisms connecting these processes remain insufficiently characterized in humans. This project addresses this gap by testing whether individual differences in reward deficits predict neural and behavioral responses to conditioned alcohol-paired cues.

Research Aims

Assess whether reward processing deficits predict stronger acquisition of incentive salience to alcohol-paired conditioned cues
Examine whether alcohol-paired geometric shapes elicit enhanced neural responses
Test whether alcohol-paired conditioned cues produce greater attentional capture

Methods

Participants complete a laboratory-based conditioning protocol involving initially neutral geometric shapes
Neutral colored shapes are paired with beverage-related image–odor combinations: beer, orange juice, or water
Pavlovian conditioning is used to establish associations between shapes and alcohol or non-alcohol cues
EEG is recorded during a picture-viewing ‘oddball task’ to quantify neural responses to conditioned shapes

Significance

This project advances a mechanistic account of vulnerability to alcohol addiction by integrating Reward Deficiency hypothesis and Incentive Sensitization Theory of addiction. Rather than treating reward deficits and alcohol cue-reactivity as separate processes, the project tests whether reduced reward sensitivity may increase the likelihood that alcohol-associated cues acquire motivational significance. By identifying neural and behavioral markers of enhanced incentive salience attribution, the study may help clarify why some individuals are especially vulnerable to alcohol-related motivational biases. More broadly, the findings have the potential to refine etiological models of addiction by showing how blunted reward processing may interact with associative learning to promote cue-driven alcohol motivation. This could inform prevention strategies aimed at identifying individuals at elevated risk before severe alcohol-related problems emerge.