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Biomedical subjects

R O Pihl

Publications and source records attributed to R O Pihl.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Autonomic reactivity and alcohol-induced dampening in men at risk for alcoholism and men at risk for hypertension.

Both sons of male alcoholics with multigenerational family history of male alcoholism (MFH) and sons of essential hypertensives (HTs) exhibit elevated psychophysiological reactivity to stress when compared with male controls (FH-). MFHs also demonstrate a significant baseline heart rate increase and stress-response dampening following alcohol consumption. The present study investigates the specificity of this alcohol-induced psychophysiological response pattern by testing these two risk groups in a shock response paradigm, both sober and alcohol-intoxicated. A repeated measures analysis of variance on sober and alcohol-intoxicated heart rate reactivity yielded a significant risk by alcohol interaction, indicating that alcohol consumption led to a greater decrease in reactivity in the MFH group compared with the HT and FH- groups. Similar results were obtained for muscle tension measures. MFHs also displayed greater increases in resting baseline heart rate and muscle tension when alcohol intoxicated. The results may reflect a sensitivity to negatively and positively reinforcing effects of alcohol specific to individuals with multigenerational familial histories of alcoholism.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Violent behavior.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1995

Drugs and aggression: correlations, crime and human manipulative studies and some proposed mechanisms.

Violence and drugs seem to mix readily. In this paper, relevant correlational studies are briefly reviewed and methodological issues are discussed. With a focus on alcohol, facts pointing to some type of causal relationship are presented both from crime and laboratory manipulative studies. Dose and rate-dependent anxiolytic, psychomotor stimulant and alteration in inhibitory and problem-solving cognitive functions are each in turn seen as precipatory to aggression. Drugs other than alcohol which interact with these systems are also discussed.

Aggression↗
PubMed1995

Alcoholism: the role of different motivational systems.

Individuals use and misuse alcohol (and other drugs) because of the pharmacologically mediated effects these substances have on the operation of 4 psychobiological systems, mediating response to motivationally relevant unconditioned and conditioned stimuli. These 4 systems have unique neuroanatomical structure, biochemical modes of operation, association with affect, behavior and cognition, and responsiveness to drugs of abuse. Individual variation in the operation of these systems determines individual susceptibility to initiation and maintenance of drug use and abuse. Sources of such variation differ, in a vitally important fashion, in various specific populations of individuals at heightened risk for drug abuse. Nonalcoholic sons of male alcoholics, with multigenerational family histories of male alcoholism, appear to be at heightened risk for the development of alcohol abuse because alcohol eliminates their heightened response to threat, and because they are hypersensitive to ethanol's psychomotor stimulant effects. Anxiety-sensitive individuals also appear attracted to alcohol for its anxiolytic properties. Many other important sources of idiosyncratic variability exist. Detailed analysis of such sources may lead to the development of more effective prevention and treatment programs.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1994

Serotonin and alcohol intake, abuse, and dependence: findings of animal studies.

Despite a relatively large body of literature on the role of the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT) in the regulation of alcohol intake, the functional significance of serotonergic neurotransmission and its relationship to alcohol intake, abuse, and dependence remains to be fully elucidated. In part two of this review, the experimental (animal) data is summarized along two lines: the effects of serotonergic manipulations on the intake of alcohol, and the effects of acute and chronic alcohol intake, as well as the withdrawal of chronic alcohol, on the serotonergic system. It is concluded that serotonin mediates ethanol intake as a part of its larger role in behavior modulation, such that increases in serotonergic functioning decrease ethanol intake, and decreased serotonergic functioning increases ethanol intake. Ethanol produces transient increases in serotonergic functioning that activate the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward system. The results are discussed in light of recent theories describing the regulatory role of serotonin in general behavior.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1994

Serotonin and alcohol intake, abuse, and dependence: clinical evidence.

A large body of literature has emerged concerning the role of the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT) in the regulation of alcohol intake and the development of alcoholism. Despite the wealth of information, the functional significance of this neurotransmitter remains to be fully elucidated. This paper, part one of a two-part review, summarizes the available clinical research along two lines: the effects of alcohol on serotonergic functioning and the effects of pharmacological manipulation of serotonergic functioning on alcohol intake in normal (nonalcohol dependent) and alcohol-dependent individuals. It is concluded that considerable evidence exists to support the notion that some alcoholic individuals may have lowered central serotonin neurotransmission.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1994

Predicting early onset of male antisocial behavior from preschool behavior.

METHODS: Data from a large longitudinal study of boys who were between kindergarten and age 13 years were used to (1) test whether Gray's and Cloninger's personality dimensions measured in kindergarten predicted the early onset of stable, highly delinquent behavior; (2) test whether 1, 2, or 3 dimensions were needed; and (3) test the predictive value of a categorical approach. RESULTS: The impulsivity dimension was the best predictor of the early onset of stable, highly delinquent behavior. Anxiety and reward dependence made significant but weaker contributions. The categorical approach corroborated Cloninger's suggestion that boys who are high in impulsivity, low in anxiety, and low in reward dependence would be more at risk for delinquent involvement. Boys who were high in impulsivity and low in anxiety but high in reward dependence were much less at risk for delinquency. Differences in antisocial behavior among extreme kindergarten personality groups were stable from ages 11 to 13 years. CONCLUSIONS: The behavioral activating system appears to be the major dimension underlying the propensity toward early onset of antisocial behavior, but both the behavioral inhibition system and the need for social rewards play important roles. The behavioral style (personality) that results from the interplay of these systems is clearly in place by the kindergarten year. Preventive efforts should target preschool children with at-risk behavior profiles. However, longitudinal-experimental studies with at least yearly assessments between birth and school-entry age are needed to understand the extent to which the behavioral styles are antecedent to preschool disruptive behavior disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Cardiovascular reactivity as a predictor of alcohol consumption in a taste test situation.

The existence of a relationship between cardiovascular reactivity to signalled shock and alcohol consumption can be inferred from studies of males at increased familial risk for alcoholism. The present study examined two groups of nonalcoholic men--those with multigenerational histories (MGH) of alcoholism and family--history negative (FH-) controls-to determine whether reactivity was related to voluntary ethanol consumption in the context of a beverage taste test. High reactors, a significant majority of whom were MGH males, drank significantly more vodka and orange juice, rum and coke, and orange juice when asked to rate the flavor of three alcoholic and two nonalcoholic drinks. High reactors also consumed more alcohol on a weekly basis according to their self-report.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Alcohol and the Taylor aggression paradigm: a repeated measures study.

Acute alcohol intoxication has been shown to increase physical aggression in the laboratory as measured by the Taylor aggression paradigm with independent groups. Because it would be advantageous to use the Taylor paradigm in a repeated measures design to examine individual differences, the present study compared the performance of subjects on two counterbalanced occasions: when they were intoxicated and when they were sober. Order of testing significantly interacted with drug condition for the aggression measures and pain threshold. However, an analysis of the ratio of pain threshold to shock intensity, and to total aggression, revealed the procedure to be useful in understanding one aspect of how alcohol modulates aggression. The results suggest that acute alcohol intoxication interferes with the ability to integrate previously acquired knowledge in the formulation of behavioral strategies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Risk for alcoholism, antisocial behavior, and response perseveration.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the existence of an association between alcoholism and antisocial personality (ASP). The present study tested two hypotheses: First, that nonalcoholic men with a multigenerational familial history (MGH) of alcoholism would play more cards on a card task that has been shown previously to differentiate antisocial populations from normals and, second, that MGH subjects would display more evidence of ASP on two personality questionnaires: The Self-Report Psychopathy scale and the Socialization scale of the California Psychological Inventory. A total of 28 subjects (14 MGH and 14 family history negative for alcoholism [FH-]) were employed in this study. MGH subjects played significantly more cards during the card task than did FH- subjects. However, the two groups did not differ on the ASP questionnaires. The possibility that a subtle frontal-lobe deficit, rather than ASP per se, underlies the poorer performance of the MGH males is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

A biosocial model of the alcohol-aggression relationship.

Four of alcohol's dose- and rate-dependent pharmacological properties may increase the likelihood of human aggression. As an anxiolytic, alcohol is capable of reducing the inhibitory effect of fear on manifestation of aggressive behavior. As a psychomotor stimulant, alcohol can potentiate aggressive behavior, once evoked, or lower the threshold for such evocation. Alcohol-related disruption of certain higher order cognitive functions may reduce the inhibitory control generally exercised by previously established knowledge and decrease ability to plan in the face of threat or punishment. Finally, alcohol's ability to increase pain sensitivity may increase the likelihood of defensive aggression. Discussion of the nature and relevance of these pharmacological properties is structured according to a heuristic and synthetic schema, predicated upon consideration of an inhibitory neuropsychological structure--the individually and culturally determined general expectancy set.

Aggression↗
PubMed1993

Heart-rate reactivity and alcohol consumption among sons of male alcoholics and sons of non-alcoholics.

Recent studies have demonstrated that sons of male alcoholics with multigenerational family histories of male alcoholism are characterized by sober heart-rate hyperreactivity to aversive stimuli, susceptibility to alcohol-induced dampening of that hyperreactivity and by increased resting heart rate while intoxicated. Regression analyses indicate that the magnitude of alcohol-induced change in resting and reactive cardiac response is significantly and powerfully associated with the degree of self-reported voluntary alcohol consumption among 85 non-alcoholic males who are either lacking or who have moderate or extensive family histories of male alcoholism. It appears that heightened sensitivity to alcohol-induced increase in resting and decrease in reactive heart rate might mark or underlie familial risk for developing alcoholism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Sensation seeking, stress reactivity, and alcohol dampening discriminate the density of a family history of alcoholism.

Data collected from 95 nonalcoholic men who had either a multigenerational (MFH), unigenerational (UFH), or negative family history (FHN) of alcoholism were subjected to a discriminant function analysis to determine how well a set of variables differentiated between the family history groups. The data-set comprised personality measures (sensation seeking scales, neuroticism, and extroversion), measures of cardiovascular reactivity to unavoidable shock, and measures of the cardiovascular reactivity-dampening effects of alcohol. The discriminant analyses correctly classified 62% of all subjects, 75% of MFH subjects, 47% of UFH subjects, and 63% of FHN subjects. A canonical discriminant function analysis revealed one significant dimension (canonical variable) that differentiated between family history groups. The high density (MFH) family group scored positively on this dimension, while the UFH and FHN groups had negative mean scores on this variable. A MFH of alcoholism was characterized by a pattern of increased sensitivity to the cardiovascular reactivity-dampening effect of alcohol, cardiovascular hyperreactivity to unavoidable shock when sober, and the personality characteristic of experience seeking, which is associated with a desire for novel and unconventional experiences.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Measurement of psychological and heart rate reactivity to stress in the real world.

The purpose of the present investigation was to develop and test an innovative methodology to assess stress reactivity in the real world. A portable microcomputer was programmed to administer two questionnaires eight times per day for 3 days in the field. Heart rate was measured simultaneously using a reliable and valid ambulatory monitor (Sport Tester PE-3000). Data were analyzed in terms of stress versus no stress, based on subjects' perceptions of the 24 events. It was found that heart rate was significantly higher in the stress condition and that physical stressors contributed significantly to heart rate variability, as did cigarette smoking. Three emotional responses were evident when subjects were stressed: anxiety, hostility and depression; the former two emotions also contributed to heart rate variability. The heart rate data were compared to a number of other studies conducted in the field and found to be strikingly similar. It was concluded that the new technologies currently available allow for the measurement of stress reactivity in the field.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Cognitive dysfunction and the inherited predisposition to alcoholism.

A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 22 nonalcoholic sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) from families with extensive histories of male alcoholism and to 22 nonalcoholic controls with no history of familial alcoholism. In each group 11 subjects were tested while sober and 11 were tested while alcohol-intoxicated. Analyses of the results of this battery suggested (1) that SOMAs may be characterized by comparative decrements in those cognitive functions associated with the organization of novel information, dependent in theory upon the prefrontal cortex; and (2) that alcohol detrimentally affects delayed memory, associated with the temporal cortex, equally across groups. Of these SOMAs 20 had previously participated in one of two studies that demonstrated their cardiovascular hyper-reactivity to threat/stress and their increased sensitivity to the reactivity-dampening effects of alcohol intoxication. Correlational analyses of the results of the present and previous studies demonstrated the existence of a highly significant relationship between cognitive impairment, cardiovascular hyper-reactivity and susceptibility to the reactivity-dampening effects of alcohol.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Factor structure and correlates of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire.

Cloninger has proposed a model linking personality characteristics to patterns of responses to various stimuli, including alcohol. The model also uses personality characteristics to divide alcoholics into two types. In order to assess the relevant aspects of personality, the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) was developed. This study examined the factor structure and correlates of the questionnaire to shed light on its validity. A confirmatory factor analysis of the TPQ failed to replicate the three proposed factors of novelty seeking, harm avoidance and reward dependence. Alternative models also failed to fit the data. The three factors were correlated with other personality measures theoretically linked to drinking (MacAndrew, Socialization and Sensation-Seeking scales), quantity and frequency measures of alcohol use and a measure of alcohol abuse (the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test). The pattern of correlations provides evidence for the convergent validity of the TPQ. Nevertheless, the failure to replicate the factor structure suggests that the scale requires further revision before the model can be adequately tested.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The effects of alcohol on the cardiovascular stress response in men at high risk for alcoholism: a dose response study.

Men at risk for alcoholism appear to be cardiovascularly hyperreactive to stressors; high doses of alcohol have been found to significantly dampen this hyperreactivity. The present study examined the effects of various doses of alcohol on cardiovascular reactivity in high- versus low-risk men. Cardiovascular reactivity to a stressor (unavoidable shock) was examined in men with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism and in family history negative men while they were sober and after they had consumed one of five alcohol doses (active placebo, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 or 1.32 ml 95% USP alcohol/kg body weight). No significant placebo effects were observed in the active placebo condition. Furthermore, the cardiovascular reactivity dampening effect in high-risk men was evident only at moderate to high doses of alcohol, suggesting that men at high risk for the development of alcoholism must consume moderately high doses of alcohol in order to obtain this potentially reinforcing consequence.

Adolescent↗