Jeffrey Boissoneault, Ph.D. - US grants

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Conventional wisdom and a substantial body of scientific evidence suggests that the intake of small amounts of alcohol confers a variety of health benefits to the user including reduced risk of coronary artery disease, type-2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. Given that this is the case, it is common medical practice to recommend to those individuals who already drink alcohol that they continue to drink, albeit moderately. Although this practice makes intuitive sense, even small acute doses of alcohol have been shown to have subtle, yet measurable effects on neurocognition and psychomotor performance in the user which may confer some risk to that individual. Preliminary evidence from our laboratory suggests the effect of these moderate drinking episodes on psychomotor and neurocognitive performance may differd epending on the individual's age as well as a host of other individual factors. The proposed project extends these preliminary findings through measurement of electrophysiological and psychomotor changes associated with acute moderate drinking and comparing results between two relevant age groups: younger adults (25-40 years of age) and older adults (55- 70 years of age). Although not the primary focus of this proposal, exploratory analyses characterizing potential gender effects will also be conducted. To this end, we intend to recruit equal numbers of men and women for the study. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Drinking alcohol in small amounts may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. However, the consumption of even small amounts of alcohol in a single sitting results in temporary changes in brain function that may increase the risk of automobile accidents and other potentially damaging events. The role that a person's age and sex plays in the mechanism by which alcohol affects relevant brain systems is unclear. This project aims to clarify these issues, which may help improve recommendations for safer drinking in the general public.

Project Summary Pain is the most common reason that patients seek medical attention. Acute pain is an essential indicator of current or impending tissue damage. However, chronic pain is a maladaptive state with strong affective, biological, and psychological components. Chronic pain is extremely costly and has strong negative effects on sufferers? quality of life. Existing treatments for chronic pain, including opioid analgesics, are relatively ineffective. Perhaps as a result of the lack of efficacious treatments, it has been recently reported that nearly 25% of individuals suffering from chronic oral and/or musculoskeletal pain self-medicate through the oral consumption of alcohol. Indeed, alcohol interacts with a wide range of relevant pharmacologic targets capable of modulating the experience of pain. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this intuitive interaction are not well established. This relationship is important to understand because alcohol analgesia may act as a potent negative reinforcer for alcohol intake, which, in turn, can have adverse health effects by increasing risk of developing an alcohol use disorder. Familial risk for alcoholism, along with sex and certain mood/personality factors, may act as critical modulators of individual sensitivity to alcohol analgesia. However, it is currently unclear whether this sensitivity is the result of neurobiological, and/or learned factors. By characterizing independent contributions of each of these factors, this proposal will improve understanding of the interplay between pain/alcohol sensitivity, sex, and family history of alcoholism as a modulator of sensitivity to alcohol analgesia. These efforts will inform further research and clinical/translational efforts regarding risk associated with self-medication of pain by consuming alcohol. Critically, the impact of these factors on the functional neural correlates of alcohol analgesia will also be determined, improving mechanistic understanding of alcohol analgesia.

Project Summary/Abstract It has long been suggested that alcohol has analgesic properties. Data suggest that about 25% of chronic orofacial pain patients endorse the use of alcohol for pain management. However, the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying this intuitive interaction are not well established. Studies of healthy individuals using quantitative sensory testing (QST) have shown that familial risk for alcoholism, as well as psychological characteristics like mood and personality, may act as critical factors modulating individuals? sensitivity to alcohol analgesia. However, to our knowledge, the acute pain-relieving effect of alcohol intake in individuals with chronic pain has never been systematically studied. This relationship is important to understand because alcohol analgesia may be associated with relief. Relief from pain may act as a potent negative reinforcer for alcohol intake, which, in turn, can have adverse health effects by increasing risk of developing an alcohol use disorder in people with chronic pain. Self-medication of pain with alcohol may also result in harmful drug interactions, risk of injury due to neurobehavioral impairment, and even development of painful alcohol neuropathy. The overall goal of this proposal is to test the analgesic effects of acute alcohol consumption in individuals with chronic pain and a comparison group of pain-free controls, and identify critical biopsychosocial modulators of alcohol analgesia. These efforts will inform research and clinical/translational efforts regarding modifiable and unmodifiable factors related to risk associated with self-medication of chronic pain using alcohol, and provide critical feasibility and effect size data for future proposals