Study shows difficulty in ability to discern facial symmetry helps explain 'beer goggles' effect

(Medical Xpress) -- It's a part of modern lore that doesn’t reflect well on our species, the idea that as people consume alcoholic beverages, they see those around them as becoming more attractive. It’s known as the “beer goggles” effect and has been used by members of both genders to help explain sexual escapades with another person who under normal circumstances, would not be someone they would consider for such activities. Now, new research helps to explain how and why this happens. L.G Halsey, J.W Huber, and J.C Hardwick have published the results of their research on the topic in the journal Addiction and suggest that one reason people find others more attractive when drinking is because alcohol impairs a person’s ability to detect facial symmetry.

The team notes that prior research has shown that a part of what makes people attractive to other people is the degree to which both sides of their faces match. The more symmetry the thinking goes, the better the gene pool, hence the more desirable they are as a potential mate. This they say, is one of the major factors that cause someone to see another as someone they would consider bedding. But, the whole system begins to go off track when alcohol is introduced. The researchers found that the more a person consumes, the more trouble they have figuring out symmetry in the faces of those around them, causing them to see everyone as better looking than they were sober. This, they say, accounts for the “beer goggles” effect.

To come to these conclusions, the team enlisted over 100 male and female volunteers from Roehampton University who were tasked with looking at photographs and rating the degree of attractiveness of the person shown. They were also asked to rate the degree of symmetry. Some volunteers were given drinks containing alcohol, while others were given drinks with no alcohol in them at all. The faces in the photographs had been premeasured for degree of symmetry and indeed some of the photographs had been altered to force the faces to be perfectly symmetrical.

After compiling the results, the team found that those people who were consuming alcohol showed less ability to discern symmetry and that their abilities grew worse as more alcohol was consumed. They also found that women’s abilities were more strongly impacted than men.

While these results clearly show a correlation between alcohol consumption and an ability to discern facial symmetry, and perhaps degree of attractiveness, the team isn’t suggesting that their results fully explain the “beer goggles” effect, more that their research adds a piece to the overall puzzle that is the decision making process and ultimate behavior of people when consuming alcohol.

More information: Does alcohol consumption really affect asymmetry perception? A three-armed placebo-controlled experimental study,Addiction, Accepted Article, DOI:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03807.x

Abstract 

Aims:  A possible explanation for increased levels of attractiveness of faces when under the influence of alcohol is reduced ability to perceive bilateral asymmetry. This study tested the degree of preference by alcohol-dosed and non-alcohol-dosed participants for symmetrical faces and their ability to detect facial symmetry while controlling for other explanations. 

Design:  Volunteers were recruited to a random allocation experiment with three conditions: alcoholic drink (alcohol dosed), non-alcoholic drink (placebo) and diluted orange cordial (control). Data on concentration, personality and demographics were collected. Dependent variables were symmetry preference and detection. 

Setting:  Laboratory, University of Roehampton. 

Participants:  101 participants, mainly students (41 alcohol-dosed, 40 placebo, 20 control). 

Measurements:  Participants provided verbal responses to images of faces which were presented on a computer screen for 5 seconds each; the first task required a preference judgement and the second task consisted of a forced-choice response of whether a face was symmetrical or not. Levels of concentration, weight and level of alcohol-dose were measured, and demographics plus additional psychological and health information were collected using a computer based questionnaire. 

Findings:  In contrast to a previous investigation, there was no difference in symmetry preference between conditions (p = 0.846). In agreement with previous findings, participants who had not drunk alcohol were better at detecting whether a face was symmetrical or asymmetrical (p = 0.043). Measures of concentration did not differ between conditions (p = 0.214 to 0.438). Gender did not affect ability to detect symmetry in placebo or alcohol-dosed participants (p = 0.984, 0.499); however alcohol-dosed females were shown to demonstrate greater symmetry preference than alcohol-dosed males (p = 0.004). 

Conclusion:  People who are alcohol-dosed are subtly less able to perceive vertical, bilateral asymmetry in faces, with gender being a possible moderating factor.

© 2012 PhysOrg.com

"Study shows difficulty in ability to discern facial symmetry helps explain 'beer goggles' effect." April 2nd, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-difficulty-ability-discern-facial-symmetry.html

Posted by

Robert Karl Stonjek

The kid in Home Alone!!

 

Remember Macaulay Culkin?? The kid in Home ALone!!

He destroyed his Precious God Given Life because of drugs.

He was arrested for consuming excess drugs in Oklahoma City for the possession of 17.3g of marijuana and two controlled

 

substances, 16.5 mg of Alprazolam and 32 mg of Clonazepam.

SHARE this story with every one of your friends and let them feel the sadness that brings from drugs before they get

 

addicted.

 

Drugs make the way to REAL HOME ALONE .. 

 

 

-- 

Raju.O Ninan
From -Kuwait.

Middle school teacher support lowers risk for early alcohol use

Anxiety, depression, stress and social support can predict early alcohol and illicit drug use in youth, according to a study from Carolyn McCarty, PhD, of Seattle Children's Research Institute, and researchers from the University of Washington and Seattle University. Middle school students from the sixth to the eighth grade who felt more emotional support from teachers reported a delay in alcohol and other illicit substance initiation. Those who reported higher levels of separation anxiety from their parents were also at decreased risk for early alcohol use. The study, "Emotional Health Predictors of Substance Use Initiation During Middle School," was published in advance online in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Relatively few studies have examined support for youth from nonfamily members of the adolescent's social support network, including teachers. "Our results were surprising," said Dr. McCarty, who is also a University of Washington research associate professor. "We have known that middle school teachers are important in the lives of young people, but this is the first data-driven study which shows that teacher support is associated with lower levels of early alcohol use." Middle school students defined teacher support as feeling close to a teacher or being able to talk with a teacher about problems they are experiencing.

Youth that are close to or even cling to parents can have separation anxiety and may be less susceptible to negative influences from peers, including experimentation with risky behaviors like alcohol use. "Teens in general seek new sensations or experiences and they take more risks when they are with peers," said Dr. McCarty. "Youth with separation anxiety symptoms may be protected by virtue of their intense connection to their parents, making them less likely to be in settings where substance use initiation is possible," she said.

This video is not supported by your browser at this time.

The study also found that youth who initiated alcohol and other illicit drug use prior to sixth grade had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms. This suggests that depression may be a consequence of very early use or a risk factor for initiation of use prior to the middle school years. Depression was defined by asking youth about their mood and feelings, and asking them if statements such as "I felt awful or unhappy" and "I felt grumpy or upset with my parents" were true, false or sometimes true during a two-week timeframe.

"Based on the study and our findings, substance use prevention needs to be addressed on a multidimensional level," said Dr. McCarty. "We need to be aware of and monitor early adolescent stress levels, and parents, teachers and adults need to tune into kids' mental health. We know that youth who initiate substance abuse before age 14 are at a high risk of long-term substance abuse problems and myriad health complications."

Dr. McCarty Offers Tips for Parents to Help Reduce Early Alcohol Use

• Know where your child is, and check in with your child on a regular basis
• Get to know your child's friends, and who your child spends time with
• Teach stress management skills
• Help your child feel connected with adults at school

Dr. McCarty and the research team analyzed data from the Developmental Pathways Project, a longitudinal study of 521 youth sampled from the Seattle Public Schools. Researchers analyzed the effects of depression, anxiety, stress and support on initiation of substance use, which was measured at five different time points between sixth and eighth grade.

Seattle Children's Research Institute, in collaboration with the University of Washington and Seattle University, will continue to study this topic, next looking at the timing between youth substance use and depression, as well as how intervention programs for depression impact substance use.

More information: "Emotional Health Predictors of Substance Use Initiation During Middle School," study in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors:http://psycnet.apa … 11-22905-001

Provided by Seattle Children's

"Middle school teacher support lowers risk for early alcohol use." March 21st, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-middle-school-teacher-lowers-early.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

'Anti-alcoholism' drug clears key test hurdle

A drug designed to treat nervous spasms has cleared an important early test in a project to see whether it can also cure alcoholism, French doctors said on Tuesday.

Baclofen -- the lab name for a medication branded as Kemstro, Lioresal and Gablofen -- was successful in a preliminary test among a small group of alcoholics, a result that opens the way to formal clinical trials, they said.

The history of the drug goes back 50 years. It was originally designed for epilepsy before becoming licensed to treat spasticity, but researchers are now interested in using it to ease alcoholic craving.

Interest was sparked in 2008 by a book, Le Dernier Verre (The Last Glass), by cardiologist Olivier Ameisen, who self-treated his alcoholism with high doses of baclofen.

The new test entailed enrolling 132 heavy drinkers who were given baclofen at high doses over a year.

Eighty percent either became abstinent or became moderate drinkers. By comparison, two drugs that are commonly used to treat alcoholics, naltrexon and acamprosate, yield a success rate of 20-25 percent.

Side effects included fatigue, drowsiness, insomnia, dizziness and digestive troubles.

Lead researcher Philippe Jaury of the University of Paris-Descartes said the outcome opened the door to one-year clinical trials, expected to start in May, in which 320 alcoholics would be divided into two groups.

One batch will receive baclofen, progressively building in dosage until the craving symptoms subside, while the others will receive an inactive lookalike pill, or placebo.

France's health system is paying 750,000 euros ($469,000) of the 1.2-million-euro ($1.45-million) cost of the trial, and an unidentified donor is paying the rest, Jaury told AFP.

The pre-trial study is published in a specialist journal, Alcohol and Alcoholism.

(c) 2012 AFP

"'Anti-alcoholism' drug clears key test hurdle." March 20th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-anti-alcoholism-drug-key-hurdle.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Childhood trauma exposure is very common among alcohol-dependent inpatients

Accumulating evidence indicates that childhood trauma experience (CTE) may be an environmental susceptibility factor for a variety of psychiatric disorders, including alcohol dependence (AD). CTE can include sexual, physical, and emotional abuse as well as physical or emotional neglect. New research on single and multiple CTE among AD individuals undergoing inpatient detoxification and treatment has found significant rates of reported CTE among these individuals.

Results will be published in the June 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"Previous studies have found that alcoholic patients self-report higher rates of physical and sexual abuse in childhood compared to the general population," said Markus Heilig, clinical director at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). "A recent national survey estimated rates of 8.4 percent for physical abuse and 6.0 percent for sexual abuse in the general population. Among alcoholic patients, rates for physical abuse were reported at 24 percent and 33 percent for men and women, respectively, while rates for sexual abuse were reported at 12 percent and 49 percent for men and women, respectively. Importantly, 5.0 percent of men and 23 percent of women experienced both types of abuse, physical and sexual, suggesting that co-occurrence of different abuse types may be important as well."

However, noted Heilig, who is also the corresponding author for the study, much less is known about rates of other types of abuse and neglect, in particular emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect.

"Because emotional abuse is difficult to define, and is greatly under-reported compared to physical and sexual abuse, true rates of emotional abuse are unknown," Heilig said. "Many recent studies have linked childhood emotional abuse and neglect to the same long-term consequences as physical and sexual abuse, such as increased rates of depression, anxiety, and even suicide."

Heilig added that he and his colleagues also wanted to look at the effects of experiencing multiple trauma types. "A person who experiences more than one type of abuse or neglect may be more severely affected in the long run and develop more problems later in life," he said. "By looking at a broader range of abuse and neglect types, we were able to investigate these questions."

Heilig and his colleagues examined 196 alcohol inpatients (134 men, 62 women) using structured clinical interviews for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - Fourth Edition Axis I disorders as well as the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which measures all five types of abuse or neglect: physical and sexual abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect.

"We had four key findings," said Heilig. "One, patients being treated for AD are likely to have experienced one or more types of childhood abuse and neglect. Two, sexual abuse increases the likelihood of developing anxiety disorders in addition to AD, while emotional abuse increases the likelihood of developing depression. Three, alcoholics who experienced childhood physical abuse may be more likely to have a history of suicide attempts. Four, alcoholics who experienced more than one type of abuse or neglect are especially at risk for developing a psychiatric disorder or for attempting suicide."

"This study clearly shows substantial rates of reported childhood traumatization in treated AD individuals and confirms previously reported clusters of early adversities in the life histories of these patients," observed Willemien Langeland, a freelance trauma researcher at Vrije University in Amsterdam, and at the University of Amsterdam. "From a research standpoint, it is remarkable to see that even within a population of chronic alcoholics in which co-morbid psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent, those individuals with histories of childhood trauma stand out for their degree of psychopathology."

"Our findings demonstrate that childhood emotional abuse is nearly as prevalent among alcoholic patients as physical and sexual abuse," said Heilig, "which is important because it helps to show that emotionally abused children, like those that have been physically or sexually abused, can develop behavioral and other health problems in adulthood. For example, we show that alcoholics who were emotionally abused may be more likely to have co-morbid depression and PTSD, and thus these individuals may be more difficult to treat than those without these disorders. In addition, we also found that alcoholics who experienced more than one type of CTE in childhood are even more at risk for a broad range of psychiatric disorders and for suicide attempts. We call this a 'dose-response' relationship, which means that with each increase in the number of CTE types experienced – the 'dose' – the likelihood of developing a psychiatric disorder – the 'response' – also increases."

Both Heilig and Langeland believe that clinicians need to take greater care when assessing prior life experiences in AD patients. "These highly co-morbid patients reporting cumulative exposure to traumatic stress in childhood are often seen in routine practice," observed Langeland. "These findings point to the importance of a more systematic trauma assessment in alcohol-treatment services. And I also urge clinicians to address alcohol use at every clinical encounter with children and adolescents that have been identified as victims of childhood trauma, as early interventions in abused children might improve their psychological as well as medical health."

"Members of the public shouldn't take lightly the potential effects of emotional abuse in childhood or in any life stage," said Heilig. "Just because there may not be visible physical scars does not mean that no lasting damage has been done."

Provided by Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

"Childhood trauma exposure is very common among alcohol-dependent inpatients." March 15th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-childhood-trauma-exposure-common-alcohol-dependent.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Some people may be more susceptible to alcohol-induced fragmentary blackouts

Alcohol's effects on memory range from mild deficits to alcohol-induced blackouts. That said, very little research has been carried out on memory impairments among individuals who have experienced alcohol-induced blackouts. A new study of neural activation during a contextual-memory task among individuals with and without a history of alcohol-induced fragmentary blackouts demonstrates individual differences in how alcohol impacts memory.

Results will be published in the June 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"Prior research had shown that individuals who experienced alcohol-induced blackouts were more likely than those who had not experienced blackouts to exhibit memory impairments when intoxicated," said Reagan R. Wetherill, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego and corresponding author for the study. "Our study is the first examination of neural activity during a contextual-memory task among individuals with a history of alcohol-induced blackouts."

"Blackouts have been widely regarded as an important warning signal of problem drinking for many decades now," observed Bryan Hartzler, a research scientist at the University of Washington's Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute. "But some people may mistakenly equate the term 'alcohol blackout' with only a more extreme experience of memory loss where one 'loses time' for a period during which the brain essentially just stops making memories. Fragmentary blackouts are less severe than that, in that just portions of one's experience are forgotten and can be recalled via use of retrieval cues. However, fragmentary blackouts have also been shown to be much more prevalent, at least among young adults. The current study's inclusion of functional magnetic resonance imaging technology provides a direct, powerful means to examine underlying biological correlates of this more common type of alcohol-induced blackout."

Wetherill and her colleagues used data from a larger, longitudinal study of alcohol use and behavioral risks to examine 24 individuals (12 males, 12 females) with (n=12) and without (n=12) a history of fragmentary blackouts. All participants completed a block design contextual memory task across 48 functional magnetic resonance imaging sessions, with and without alcohol, during which task performance and brain hemodynamic activity were measured.

Wetherill explained that the block design contextual memory task involves a study phase and a test phase. During the study phase, images are shown with a cue question such as "living or nonliving?," followed by a brief rest, then different images are shown with a different cue question such as "pleasant or unpleasant?" After several "blocks" of images are shown, the test phase has participants recall the images and cue questions, adding an additional image that was never shown. Wetherill said this task is designed to assess a person's ability to remember contextual information like the cue question when presented with a previous experience like a specific image.

"Our study's findings suggest that some people are more likely to experience alcohol-induced blackouts than others due to the way alcohol affects brain activity in areas involved in self-monitoring, attention, and working memory," said Wetherill.

"Through use of imaging technology, this study has made the really intriguing finding that the unique patterns of blood flow and neural activity seen in persons prone to experience those amnestic phenomena emerged only after they became intoxicated," said Hartzler. "That finding, taken together with results from prior research on fragmentary blackouts, suggests there are salient individual differences in how alcohol impacts memory, and that those differences can be identified by both behavioral and neurophysiological markers."

"Alcohol intoxication attenuated recollection-related brain activity in the right frontopolar cortex, which is a brain region involved in 'multitasking,'" said Wetherill. "Later, when sober, individuals with a history of blackouts showed slightly impaired recollection and attenuated brain activity in prefrontal and posterior parietal brain regions typically involved in attention, inhibitory processing, decision-making, and working memory. Thus, alcohol appears to affect a person's ability to multitask, and also affects some people's ability to engage brain areas required for encoding and remembering previous experiences."

"Irrespective of the specific type of alcohol-related memory loss involved, if one is experiencing blackouts it is an important signal that negative personal and health consequences are more likely to occur," said Hartzler. "Not fully recalling one's life experiences, particularly those that occur while one is intoxicated, creates a state of vulnerability where the chances increase for the individual to incur all kinds of problems."

Wetherill agreed. "Given that approximately 40 percent of college students experience alcohol-induced blackouts and, in some cases, later discover they engaged in unwanted/risky sex, drove, or other complex behaviors, our findings highlight the fact that alcohol impairs brain functioning and some people may be more vulnerable to alcohol's effects than others," she said. "In other words, just because your friend may be able to drink a certain number of drinks and appear to be functioning fine, it does not mean that you or everyone else can."

Provided by Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

"Some people may be more susceptible to alcohol-induced fragmentary blackouts." March 15th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-people-susceptible-alcohol-induced-fragmentary-blackouts.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Weekend smoking can damage your memory

(Medical Xpress) -- People who smoke only at weekends cause as much damage to their memory as those who smoke on a daily basis, according to research from Northumbria University. 

Academics from the Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research Group tested 28 social smokers – those who smoke around 20 cigarettes once or twice a week, typically when out at the weekend – 28 people who smoke 10-15 cigarettes daily and 28 people who had never smoked on a video-based prospective memory test.

Participants were asked to remember a series of pre-determined actions at specific locations when viewing a short clip of a busy high street. For example, they were asked to remember to text a friend when passing a particular store.

In the first study of its kind, researchers found that both groups of smokers performed worse than those who had never smoked, with no difference according to the pattern of smoking.

Dr. Tom Heffernan, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, who conducted the research with Dr. Terence O’Neill, said: “Smoking-related memory decline in general has been linked with increases in accelerated cerebral degeneration such as brain shrinkage.

“This new research suggests that restricting smoking to weekends makes no difference – smoking damages your memory.”

The study has been published in the Open Addiction Journal.

Provided by Northumbria University

"Weekend smoking can damage your memory." March 7th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-weekend-memory.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek