
Virtual Reality- Working Memory Retraining
Alcohol Use DisorderMild Traumatic Brain InjuryThis study will establish the acceptability and feasibility of enrolling and retaining heavy drinking Veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in an 8-week, randomized cross-over design trial of active VR working memory retraining (WMR). This study will also seek to establish the efficacy of active VR-WMR to increase performance in executive function.

The Influence of Water and Salt Intake on Copeptin Levels During Moderate Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol DrinkingThe main interest of this study is to investigate the influence of moderate alcohol consumption (beer) on salt-water homeostasis. Therefore, 10 healthy volunteers will participate in 4 Intervention: Beer alone Beer and water Beer and salt (stock/bouillon) Water alone During the study day, copeptin, sodium, osmolality and urinary sodium/osmolality will be measured at 6 timepoints.

Men's Sexual Risk Behaviors: Alcohol, Sexual Aggression, and Emotional Factors
Sexual BehaviorAlcohol Drinking2 moreAlthough correct, consistent condom use can greatly reduce sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies, resistance of condom use is common among young adults. Young men's alcohol intoxication and sexual aggression history are predictive of greater condom use resistance and other sexual risk behaviors (e.g., unprotected sex). Moreover, emotional factors may play a role in these associations, suggesting a promising avenue for continued research. This project builds upon our prior research through investigation of the emotional mechanisms involved in young men's alcohol-related sexual risk behavior. This research addresses a critical knowledge gap and advances the field through the use of multiple methods designed to evaluate distal and proximal emotional factors implicated in alcohol-related sexual risk. Male drinkers aged 21-30 who use condoms inconsistently (N = 420) will first complete a screening procedure followed by a baseline survey that will assess relevant constructs, including emotional traits, emotion dysregulation tendencies, and alcohol expectancies. They will then complete a 30-day daily diary assessment of their daily emotional states, daily coping motives pertaining to drinking and sex, and daily drinking and sexual risk behaviors to evaluate daily relationships among these factors. The same participants will complete an in-lab experiment assessing in-the-moment effects of alcohol intoxication and provocation on emotional states and sexual risk intentions. Statistical analyses will be used to examine the daily influence of emotional states and coping motives on alcohol consumption and sexual risk behaviors and the experimental effects of alcohol intoxication and provocation on emotional states and other mediators, as well as sexual risk intentions. Moderating effects of emotion dysregulation tendencies will also be examined, and the linkages between event-level and experimental relationships will be investigated. This research is both significant and innovative in that it will address the public health concern of men's sexual risk behaviors, including condom use resistance; will evaluate the role of emotional processes in men's alcohol-related sexual risk; and will use multiple methods to gather complementary types of data that will elucidate the mechanisms underlying alcohol-related sexual risk behaviors and provide an empirical evidence base from which to develop and inform prevention and intervention programs.

Alcohol Screening and Pre-Operative Intervention Research Study
Alcohol DrinkingThis study aims to learn more about how to improve patients' health before and after a scheduled surgery by examining acceptability and initial efficacy of pre-operative alcohol use reduction interventions.

Combined and Isolated Effects of Sleep Deprivation and Alcohol Intake on Exercise Performance in...
Alcohol IntakeSleep DeprivationAlthough the effects of acute alcohol intake and sleep deprivation on exercise performance lacks evidence in the literature, in many situations, they occur simultaneously. Once the alcohol affects physiological processes, the processes that occur during sleep can be impaired, such as: suppression of GH release, action of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators in the CNS, changes in the proportion of sleep stages and may lead to suppression of REM sleep. These changes promote a significant functional impairment such as a reduction in alertness and modification in reaction time, which affects the performance of any activity of daily and professional life. However, the combined effects on the physical performance variables, such as aerobic and neuromuscular performance lack of evidence in the literature.

Enhancing Housing First Programs With a Social Network Substance Use Intervention
Alcohol DrinkingDrug Abuse1 moreHousing First programs are promising approaches to transitioning substance using chronically homeless adults to affordable housing. However, Housing First programs need to provide support to residents to adjust to their changing social environments. The proposed project fulfills a critical gap by developing an electronic tool for a social network intervention using motivational interviewing techniques as well as results of a pilot test of the tool. The hypothesis to be tested is that Housing First residents who are given the intervention will be significantly more motivated to change their drinking, drug use, sexual risk behaviors, and social networks compared to controls receiving usual care.

Baclofen for Treating Anxiety and Alcoholism
AlcoholismAlcohol Dependence3 moreBackground: - Baclofen is a drug used to control muscle stiffness in people with neurological diseases. Some studies suggest that baclofen may reduce alcohol craving and use. It helps to reduce anxiety in alcoholics, which in turn can help to reduce cravings. Researchers want to see if baclofen can be a safe and effective treatment for alcoholics who have high anxiety levels. Objectives: - To see if baclofen is safe and helpful for people who have alcoholism and high anxiety levels. Eligibility: Individuals between 21 and 65 years of age who have been diagnosed with alcoholism and anxiety issues. Participants must not be taking anti-anxiety medication. Design: Participants will be screened with a physical exam and medical history. Blood and urine samples will be collected. Tests of alcohol dependency and anxiety levels will also be given. Participants will be divided into two groups. One group will take baclofen. The other group will have a placebo. About 1 week after the screening visit, participants will have a study visit. They will answer questions about their behavior and mood. They will then start to take either baclofen or a placebo. Participants will take the study drug three times a day, every day. After 1 week on the study drug, participants will have an overnight stay at the National Institutes of Health. They will have blood tests and answer questions about mood and behavior. They will also have tests that involve choosing to drink alcohol and answering more questions about cravings. Participants will stop taking their study drug over a 3-day period. A final follow-up visit will be required 1 week after the overnight study visit. Participants will receive information about other alcohol abuse treatment programs.

Trial Testing the Effect of Strategies on Performance of Brief Intervention Programmes for Harmful...
AlcoholismThe overall objective is to study if training and support, financial reimbursement and referral to an internet based brief intervention programme, singly or in combination, may increase implementation of evidence based methods of identification and brief intervention for excessive alcohol consumption in routine primary health care.

Effect of Heavy Alcohol Consumption on Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) Signaling
Alcohol ConsumptionThe main purpose of this study is to see whether heavy drinking will interfere with a specific pathway, called FXR signaling in the liver. The abnormality of this pathway may lead to liver injury in some patients who drink heavily.

ARCH II Study (Alcohol Research Center on HIV Study II)
Alcohol ConsumptionHIV1 moreThis study is being done to learn about the interaction of alcohol consumption and HIV on brain function. The proposed study will have two broad objectives. The first is to incorporate functional neuroimaging (FMRI) approaches, along with additional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) methods that will enable a delineation in both functional and cerebral metabolic disturbances affecting specific functional brain systems that are associated with the interaction of ethanol (ETOH) consumption on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-associated brain dysfunction. Recent data indicate that HIV infected patients with heavy ETOH consumption have FMRI abnormalities and exhibit alterations on other neuroimaging measures compared to moderate drinkers and people who do not drink at all. The second objective is to examine the extent to which reductions in ETOH consumption among heavy drinkers with HIV infection result from a motivational intervention. The findings from this study will provide important information on how heavy ETOH and HIV interact to affect the brain functional responsiveness, and the extent of improvement that might be gained by reducing heavy ETOH use.