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- Title
Changes on the Modulation of the Startle Reflex in Alcohol-Dependent Patients after 12 Weeks of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention.
- Authors
Jurado-Barba, Rosa; Rubio Valladolid, Gabriel; Martínez-Gras, Isabel; Alvarez-Alonso, María José; Ponce Alfaro, Guillermo; Fernández, Alberto; Moratti, Stephan; Heinz, Andreas; Jimenez-Arriero, Miguel Angel; Jimenez-Arriero, Miguel Ángel
- Abstract
<bold>Aims: </bold>Little is known about changes in the modulation of the startle reflex when patients go through an alcohol-dependence treatment in an outpatient facility. In the current study, the affective modulation of the cue-related startle reflex has been used to evaluate changes in the emotional processing of alcohol-related stimuli that occurred after a standard cognitive-behavioral intervention, and to assess the outcome of this intervention. We hypothesized a 'normalization' of the startle inhibition for the alcohol-related cues during the period of treatment. We also assumed that higher startle inhibition at baseline elicited by alcohol cues would predict the relapse on alcohol consumption during treatment.<bold>Participants: </bold>A total of 98 alcohol-dependent subjects were included who fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence. A control group of 72 subjects was selected to match demographic characteristics.<bold>Measurements: </bold>All patients received a standard cognitive-behavioral therapy once a week throughout the study period.<bold>Findings: </bold>Results show that the startle response differed significantly after 12 weeks of treatment for alcohol-related, neutral and aversive stimuli between alcohol-dependent patients and controls. Low startle responses at baseline to alcohol cues predicted relapse.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>These results may indicate that the startle reflex is referred to enduring and permanent processes of cue reactivity, and that the emotional processing of alcohol-associated cues assessed with the affect-modulated startle reflex is less altered by interventions attempting to influence explicit cognitions. Furthermore, lower values of the baseline startle reflex elicited by alcohol-associated stimuli were associated with higher probability of relapse on alcohol use.
- Publication
European Addiction Research, 2015, Vol 21, Issue 4, p195
- ISSN
1022-6877
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1159/000371723