# Integration of Electrophysiological and Behavioral Economic Models of Reward Among Heavy Drinking Emerging Adults

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS · 2021 · $36,775

## Abstract

7. Project Summary/Abstract
Alcohol misuse among emerging adults (age 18-25) is a major public health concern that results in acute and
chronic consequences, such as blackouts, motor vehicle accidents, poorer career outcomes, disease, and death.
Although many individuals “mature out” of heavy drinking, the determinants of positive drinking trajectories are
unknown. Further, longitudinal studies examining these determinants often do not include biological indicators,
inherently creating a gap between neuroscientific and clinical inquiries into alcohol misuse. Thus, as an adjunct
study to an already funded longitudinal R01 (R01AA024930-01; Multiple PIs MacKillop & Murphy), we will recruit
heavy drinking emerging adults (N = 95) at their 8-month follow-up appointment to engage in a single
electroencephalogram (EEG) session measuring two event-related potential components that theoretically
represent reward processing. Participants will then continue participation in the parent R01 and will complete
follow-up self-report sessions at 12- and 16-months. Data collected from the EEG session will be used to predict
changes in alcohol misuse (alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, and alcohol use disorder) at the 4-
and 8-month follow-ups (i.e., the 12 and 16-month parent study follow-ups).
The aims of the proposed project are: 1) to integrate electrophysiological indices (P3 and RewP) of alcohol,
nonalcohol, immediate, and delayed reward into the ongoing longitudinal study to compare with self-report
behavioral economic variables already included (i.e., alcohol demand, delayed discounting, substance-related
relative to substance-free reinforcement); and 2) to explore prospective relations between event-related
potentials, behavioral economic variables, and alcohol misuse. The study employs two paradigms for eliciting
event-related potentials of reward processing: 1) oddball task (repetitive “common” stimulus presentation with
dispersed “uncommon” images, for eliciting reactivity during uncommon images) for both nonalcohol and alcohol
cues (P3); and 2) a doors task (gambling task in which participants make a choice between two doors with either
positive or negative feedback about reward outcome) for both immediate and delayed rewards (RewP).
During the award period, the applicant will undergo advanced training in alcohol misuse, electrophysiology,
behavioral economics, neuroeconomics, and longitudinal data analysis, preparing the applicant for a career as
an expert in behavioral economics and electrophysiology. This study provides a translational understanding of
reward processing, an important mechanism related to alcohol-related pathology (NIAAA strategic plan Goal 1),
and evaluates multiple indices of reward processing as predictors of alcohol misuse. This investigation may
establish an electrophysiological biomarker of diminished alcohol-free reward response with the potential to
improve the diagnosis and the prediction of the trajectory of alc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10172803
- **Project number:** 5F31AA027140-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Samuel Fisher Acuff
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $36,775
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-05 → 2022-06-04

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10172803

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10172803, Integration of Electrophysiological and Behavioral Economic Models of Reward Among Heavy Drinking Emerging Adults (5F31AA027140-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10172803. Licensed CC0.

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