A joint exploration of executive subcomponents in binge drinking

Background: Executive deficits have been largely reported in young binge drinkers during the last decade, but uncertainty remains regarding the specificity of these deficits and their variation across executive subcomponents. The current study aimed at offering a theoretically-grounded and specific exploration of the differential deficits observed across executive functions in binge drinkers. Method: A total of forty university students (20 binge drinkers; 10 women, and 20 matched controls; 12 women) performed three validated neuropsychological tasks, each exploring a specific executive function, namely shifting, updating, and inhibition (specifically Resistance to Distractor Interference). Tasks were presented to participants in pseudo-randomized order. Repeated measure analyses of variance were performed for each task to compare groups’ performance. Results: A dissociation was observed across executive tasks regarding group differences: compared to controls, binge drinkers demonstrated preserved performance for shifting and updating abilities, but impaired inhibition. These results support the central role of inhibitory control in excessive alcohol consumption. In contrast with severe alcohol-use disorders, binge drinking does not appear related to a general executive deficit. Conclusions: In view of the pivotal role played by inhibition impairments in the emergence of severe alcohol-use disorders, the present data claim for developing individualized evaluation and rehabilitation programs focusing on this executive subcomponent to improve control abilities at early stages of alcohol-related disorders.