Distinct Whole‐Body Movements in Response to Alcohol and Sexual Content in Alcohol Use Disorder

Abstract

Background Spontaneous motor responses of approach and avoidance toward stimuli are important in characterizing psychopathological conditions, including alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, divergent results have been reported, possibly due to confounded parameters (e.g., using a symbolic vs. a sensorimotor task, implementation of approach–avoidance as a measure vs. a manipulation). Methods We studied whole‐body/posturometric changes by using a sensorimotor measure relying on embodied cognition principles to assess forward (approach) and backward (avoidance) spontaneous leaning movements. Over a 12‐second period, 51 male patients with AUD and 29 male control participants were instructed to stand still in response to both alcohol and sexual visual content. Patients with AUD were then divided into “abstainers” and “relapsers,” depending on their continuous abstinence at 2 weeks postdischarge (obtained via a telephone follow‐up interview). The effects of the group, the stimulus type, the experimental period, and their interactions on the posturometric changes were tested using mixed Analyses of variance (ANOVAs), with a significance threshold set at 0.05. Results Contrary to our expectations, patients and controls did not show significant difference in their forward/backward micromovements while passively viewing alcohol or sexual content (p > 0.1). However, in line with our hypothesis, patients who relapsed several weeks following discharge from the rehabilitation program were significantly more reactive and more likely to lean back during the first seconds of viewing alcohol cues (p = 0.002). Further, “relapsers” were more likely to lean forward during exposure to sexual content than participants who remained abstinent (p < 0.001). Conclusions Among individuals with AUD, there are distinct pattern of spontaneous movements that differentiate “abstainers” and “relapsers,” findings that can be understood in light of existing data and theories on action tendencies.

Transcranial direct current stimulation combined with alcohol cue inhibitory control training reduces the risk of early alcohol relapse: a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial

“…Neurocognitive interventions during alcohol rehabilitation might be efficient as an adjunctive treatment for AUD in the first weeks following discharge. This finding is very clinically relevant, as most alcohol relapses occur during this early period [3][4][5].…”

“…In previous studies, a positive clinical response to neurocognitive interventions was found in patients who underwent prolonged alcohol rehabilitation lasting approximately 80 days [15][16][17]39,40,54,55]. However, a large proportion of detoxified participants are not willing to participate in long-term rehabilitation and are characterized by a high rate of relapse [4,5]. This observation prompted researchers to identify relevant neurocognitive interventions that protect people from alcohol relapse early after discharge [3,4,19].…”

“…In the most severe cases (which require physical follow-up), patients with severe AUD require hospital weaning assisted by medication [2]. However, a large majority of these patients, even if properly detoxified, are at risk of relapse within weeks of hospital discharge [3][4][5].…”

“…By following this recommendation, we tested the hypothesis that the combination of tDCS and alcohol cue ICT would reduce the risk of relapse in patients with severe AUD more than other interventions using sham tDCS and neutral ICT. It should be noted that although the vast majority of clinical trials in inpatients have focused on behavioral interventions and brain stimulation that reduce alcohol relapse after three months or more, a large proportion of patients relapse within a couple of weeks following discharge [3][4][5]. Therefore, we primarily focused on early alcohol relapse, that is, the two weeks after discharge.…”

Approach-Avoidance Behavior in the Empathy for Pain Model as Measured by Posturography

“…As mentioned, we recently used posturography to explore the interaction between motor and emotional processes during pollution perception (unpublished data). Moreover, recently we used posturography in the field of alcohol-addictive behavior [ 29 ], demonstrating a distinct pattern of spontaneous movements that differentiate “abstainers” and “relapsers”.…”