Beyond stress and arousal: A reconceptualization of alcohol–emotion relations with reference to psychophysiological methods.

Abstract

In this review, the authors examine how psychophysiological research might better contribute to understanding the effects of alcohol on human emotion. They propose that future studies would benefit from greater use of contemporary theories of emotion that emphasize a dimensional structure of affective expression, incorporating the parameters of emotional arousal and emotional valence. Evidence suggests that, although alcohol exerts an overall dampening effect on arousal, it appears to modulate emotional response through its effects on higher order associative processes rather than at the level of primary brain motivational systems. They discuss methodological implications of this multidimensional, multilevel approach and suggest that alcohol-induced physiological changes need to be investigated as dynamic response patterns rather than isolated events tied to solitary measures.

Emotional Processes in Psychopathy

“…This work emphasizes the idea that emotion involves more than one activation system, and processing at different levels of the brain (Lang, 1995;Patrick, in press;Stritzke, Lang, & Patrick, 1996). In contrast to the single-arousal model, it is assumed that different emotional states serve different behavioral functions.…”

Why We Like to Drink: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of the Rewarding and Anxiolytic Effects of Alcohol

“…A variety of nonimaging human studies have attempted to experimentally alter emotional states while administering alcohol or measuring alcohol intake (Gabel et al, 1980;Stritzke et al, 1996;Curtin et al, 1998;Schroder and Perrine, 2007), but these studies have not demonstrated a specific anxiolytic interaction between alcohol and emotional cues. Alco- Figure 2.…”

Evidence Regarding the Level of Alcohol Consumption Considered to be Low-Risk for Men and Women

“…Reviews of the experimental studies of stress-reduction in humans, however, have concluded that this evidence is highly inconsistent (Pohorecky, 1991;Eckardt et al, 1998;Castaneda et al, 1998). Whether physiologic measures of reduced stress response are found in the predicted direction varies according to the type of physiologic response measured, the stressful stimulus used, the dose used, and whether the blood alcohol level was rising or falling (Stritzke et al, 1996;Wilson et al, 1982;Eckardt et al, 1998). Several, but not all, studies have also found anxiolytic responses to be more likely, or stronger, in individuals with higher anxiety levels, such as phobic patients and those with anxiety disorder (Pohorecky, 1991;Eckardt et al, 1998).…”