Ultra-brief breath counting (mindfulness) training promotes recovery from stress-induced alcohol-seeking in student drinkers

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordThe therapeutic effect of mindfulness interventions on problematic drinking is thought to be driven by increased resilience to the impact of stress on negative mood and alcohol-seeking behaviour, but this claim needs empirical support. To address this hypothesis, the current study tested whether brief training of one component of mindfulness – breath counting – would reduce drinkers’ sensitivity to the effect of noise stress on subjective mood and alcohol-seeking behaviour. Baseline alcohol-seeking was measured by choice to view alcohol versus food thumbnail pictures in 192 student drinkers. Participants then received a 6-minute audio file which either trained breath counting or recited a popular science extract, in separate groups. All participants were then stressed by a loud industrial noise and alcohol-seeking was measured again, simultaneously (to quantify the change from baseline). Subjective mood was measured after all three stages (baseline, post intervention, post stress test). The breath counting group were instructed to deploy this technique during the stress test. Results showed that the breath counting versus control intervention improved subjective mood relative to baseline, attenuated the worsening of subjective mood produced by stress induction, and accelerated recovery from a stress induced increase in alcohol-seeking behaviour. Exploratory moderation analysis showed that this accelerated recovery from stress induced alcohol-seeking by breath counting was weaker in more alcohol dependent participants. Mindfulness therapies may improve problematic drinking by increasing resilience to stress induced negative mood and alcohol-seeking, observed in this study. The weaker therapeutic effect of breath counting in more dependent drinkers may reveal limitations to this intervention strategy.Medical Research Council (MRC)Alcohol Research U

Détermination de la couleur et de la valeur nutritionnelle de la viande d’aulacodes sauvages (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck, 1827)

L’aulacode est un rongeur sauvage, hystricomorphe, typiquement africain, dont la viande est très appréciée par les consommateurs de gibier. Cependant, les caractéristiques nutritionnelles et organoleptiques de ce gibier sont mal connues. Notre travail avait pour but de déterminer la qualité sensorielle et nutritionnelle de la viande d’aulacodes sauvages. Cette étude a été réalisée à partir des muscles du membre pelvien de dix (10) sujets adultes, dont cinq (5) mâles et cinq (5) femelles d’un poids moyen de 3,5 kg vif, issus des prises de chasse en Côte d’Ivoire. La couleur des muscles a été appréciée selon un jugement visuel, à l’aide d’une grille d’intensité de la couleur codifiée ; tandis que la valeur  nutritionnelle de la viande a été évaluée par analyses bromatologiques et biochimiques des muscles prélevés selon les techniques usuelles de  dissection des animaux de laboratoire. Nos résultats montrent que les viandes d’aulacodes femelles et mâles ne diffèrent significativement qu’au niveau de la fraction minérale car il ressort que, leurs teneurs en protéines, en eau et en matière grasse sont sensiblement égales. D’un point de vue général, la viande d’aulacode sauvage, comparée à celle de certaines viandes de boucherie, a une teneur protéique (20,01%) proche de celle du veau, du poulet et du boeuf maigre (20 à 20,5%) ; mais qui est inférieure à celle du lapin (21 à 23%). En outre, son taux d’humidité (77,35%) est supérieur à celui du poulet, du lapin et du porc (60 à 75,3%). Par ailleurs, cette viande renferme une teneur en matières grasses (1,44 %) inférieure à celle du veau (1 à 7%), du lapin, du poulet et du porc (0,6 à 14,4%). Hormis le calcium, la fraction minérale de la viande d’aulacode sauvage est plus faible que celles du lapin, du poulet, du veau et du porc.Mots clés : Aulacode sauvage, membre pelvien, muscles, viande, couleur, nutrition

Negative mood induction increases choice of heroin versus food pictures in opiate-dependent individuals: Correlation with self-medication coping motives and subjective reactivity

This is the final version. Available from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this record.Acute growth in negative affect is thought to play a major role in triggering relapse in opiate-dependent individuals. Consistent with this view, three lab studies have demonstrated that negative mood induction increases opiate craving in opiate-dependent individuals. The current study sought to confirm these effects with a behavioral measure of heroin seeking, and test whether the effect is associated with self-reported opiate use to cope with negative affect and subjective reactivity to mood induction. Participants were heroin-dependent individuals engaged with treatment services (n = 47) and control participants (n = 25). Heroin users completed a questionnaire assessing reasons for using heroin: negative affect, social pressure, and cued craving. Baseline heroin choice was measured by preference to enlarge heroin versus food thumbnail pictures in two-alternative forced-choice trials. Negative mood was then induced by depressive statements and music before heroin choice was tested again. Subjective reactivity was indexed by negative and positive mood reported at the pre-induction to post-test timepoints. Heroin users chose heroin images more frequently than controls overall (p = .001) and showed a negative mood-induced increase in heroin choice compared to control participants (interaction p < .05). Mood-induced heroin choice was associated with self-reported heroin use to cope with negative affect (p < .05), but not social pressure (p = .39) or cued craving (p = .52), and with subjective mood reactivity (p = .007). These data suggest that acute negative mood is a trigger for heroin seeking in heroin-dependent individuals, and this effect is pronounced in those who report using heroin to cope with negative affect, and those who show greater subjective reactivity to negative triggers. Interventions should seek to target negative coping motives to build resilience to affective triggers for relapse.Alcohol Research U

Ultra-Brief Breath Counting (Mindfulness) Training Abolishes Negative Affect–Induced Alcohol Motivation in Hazardous Community Drinkers

Objectives Mindfulness therapy improves drinking outcomes arguably by attenuating negative mood–induced drinking, but this mechanism has not been demonstrated in hazardous community drinkers. To address this, three studies tested whether a key ingredient of mindfulness, breath counting, would attenuate the increase in motivation for alcohol produced by experimentally induced negative mood, in hazardous community drinkers. Method In three studies, hazardous community drinkers were randomized to receive either a 6-min breath counting training or listen to a recited extract from a popular science book, before all participants received a negative mood induction. Motivation for alcohol was measured before and after listening to either the breath counting training or the control audio files, with a craving questionnaire in two online studies (n = 122 and n = 111), or an alcohol versus food picture choice task in a pub context in one in-person study (n = 62). Results In Study 1, breath counting reduced alcohol craving. However, since the mood induction protocol did not increase craving, the effect of breath counting in reversing such increase could not be demonstrated. Online breath counting eliminated the increase in alcohol craving induced by negative mood (Study 2) and eliminated the stress-induced increase in alcohol picture choice in the pub environment (Study 3). Conclusions Briefly trained breath counting attenuated negative mood–induced alcohol motivation in hazardous community drinkers. These results suggest that breath counting is a reliable and practical method for reducing the impact of negative emotional triggers on alcohol motivation

Βιοχημεία-Βιοφυσική

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Βιοχημεία-Βιοφυσική

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Approche électro-clinique des effets de la consommation de boissons alcooliques par l’analyse factorielle des correspondances et par la classification ascendante hiérarchique.

Pour mieux comprendre la survenue de certaines anomalies chez des patients alcooliques chroniques, la recherche d’éventuelles relations entre les anomalies induites par l’alcoolisme chronique et le type d’alcools consommés, a été réalisée. 307 dossiers d’alcooliques chroniques ont été sélectionnés en fonction du type d’alcool consommé (Koutoukou ou alcool industriel ou les deux types d’alcool à la fois). Dans chaque dossier, les anomalies physiologiques et cliniques ont été relevées puis, par la classification ascendante hiérarchique et par l’analyse factorielle des correspondances, les éventuels liens entre les troubles de l’organisme et le type d’alcool consommé ont été établis. Il ressort de cette étude que chez les patients de moins de 40 ans, l’alcoolisme s’apparente à la consommation du Koutoukou alors que chez ceux de plus de 40 ans, les anomalies cliniques et para-cliniques sont associées à des pathologies diverses et leur alcoolisme, supérieur à 5 ans, serait lié à la consommation du mélange Koutoukou et alcools industriels. Par ailleurs, les femmes sont plus fragiles aux effets de l’alcool. Ainsi, le Koutoukou consommé seul ou en association avec les alcools industriels, semble causer plus de dommages à l’organisme, surtout après 40 ans. Mots clés : Alcoolisme – Koutoukou – Classification Ascendante Hiérarchique (CAH) – Analyse Factorielle des Correspondance (AFC) – Anomalie.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Electro-clinical approach to the effects of consumption of alcoholic beverages by correspondence analysis and hierarchical ascending classification. The objective of this study is to understand the possible relationships between the abnormalities induced by chronic alcoholism and type of alcohol consumed. 307 cases of chronic alcoholic patients were selected according to the type of alcohol consumed (koutoukou or industrial alcohol or both types of alcohol at a time). In each case, the physiological and clinical abnormalities were found and by the ascending hierarchical classification and the correspondence analysis, the possible links between disorders of the body and the type of alcohol consumed were established. It appears from this study that in patients under 40, alcohol consumption is related to the koutoukou. In alcoholics over 40 years, the clinical abnormalities are associated with various pathologies. Their alcoholism is more than 5 years, would be linked to the consumption of the mixture koutoukou and industrial alcohol. Moreover, women are more vulnerable to alcohol effects. Thus, koutoukou consumed alone or in combination with industrial alcohol, seems to cause more damage to the body, especially after 40 years. Keywords: Alcoholism – Koutoukou – ascending hierarchical classification – correspondence analysis – abnormality