Efeitos agudos do álcool em universitários, considerando o fracionamento de funções executivas

Abstract

Alcohol (ethanol) elicits impairment in cognitive abilities such as executive functions (EF), which includes various separable constructs. Thus, knowledge of the acute effects of this substance on the constructs of EF is necessary to better characterize its potential cognitive effects. Objective: To investigate the acute effects of alcohol on performance of six elected constructs of executive functions (shifting, updating, inhibition, access to long-term memory, planning, dual-tasking) in young healthy individuals. Methods: we recruited 45 male subjects aged between 18 and 30 years who were social drinkers. They were randomly allocated to three groups of 15 participants: one group whose alcohol dose was 0.6 g / kg; another group whose dose was 1.0 g / kg; and the placebo group. Results: No group significant differences were found in the executive tests. Discussion: It was determined the sample size necessary to monitor the effects of alcohol in this population were generally quite high. Conclusion: The present study was pioneer in Brazil in the proposed framework and found effect magnitudes of clinical relevance for the constructs: shifting, semantic fluency, inhibition and updating.