Deficits in Decision Making and reversal learning in college students who participate in Binge drinking
Objectives: We investigated deficits in decision making and reversal learning, and the relationship between them in college students who engaged in binge drinking. Methods: In total, 30 students involved in binge drinking and 31 non binge drinking participated. Binge drinking was defined on the basis of the quantity, frequency and speed of alcohol consumption. Decision making and reversal learning were measured using the Iowa gambling task (IGT) and a reversal learning task, respectively. Results: The binge drinking group obtained significantly lower total net scores on the IGT versus the non binge drinking group. Additionally, the binge drinking group obtained significantly lower block net scores in the third and fourth blocks of the IGT, and selected cards from deck B (disadvantageous) more frequently than did the non binge drinking group. In the reversal learning task, the binge drinking group had significantly lower accuracy than the non binge drinking group in the reversal learning stage but not in the contingency learning stage. Moreover, associations between performance on the IGT and the reversal learning task were observed in the binge drinking group but not in the non binge drinking. Conclusion: These results indicate that college students participating in BD had impairments in decision making and reversal learning. Difficulties with reversing previously learned outcomes might lead to repetition of choices that are no longer advantageous.