Alcohol abuse is the second most prevalent lifetime psychiatric disorder. However, individuals do not face an equal risk of developing problematic alcoholrelated behaviors. Alcohol use disorders are heterogeneous conditions whose development may be caused by a variety of factors and vulnerabilities. The identification of markers of risk is necessary in order to identify individuals at higher risk for addiction early on as well as to help develop treatment interventions which target an individual's specific risk factors. The goal of the present dissertation is to increase our understanding of the role that one putative risk factor, an exaggerated cardiac response to alcohol, may play in the development of addictive behaviors. Five studies are reported. / The first study revealed that an exaggerated heart rate response to alcohol is associated with subjective reports of increased alcohol-induced stimulation. In a second study, the relationship between the cardiac response to alcohol and personality characteristics was examined. Individuals who demonstrated the elevated cardiac response to alcohol displayed a distinct personality profile characterized by high sensation-seeking and sensitivity to reward. Two separate studies followed investigating the relationship between this physiological response to alcohol and other addictive behaviours. One study found that individuals with an exaggerated cardiac response to alcohol were more likely to obtain superior scores on a measure of pathological gambling, while the next study found that users of psychostimulants (e.g., cocaine) also displayed heightened alcohol-induced cardiac responses. A final study examined the impact of conditioned cues of reward and non-reward on alcohol-induced cardiac responses. Individuals who had previously displayed elevated cardiac responses to ethanol showed reduced cardiac reactivity when alcohol ingestion occurred in a non-rewarding environment. Overall, these findings suggest that the cardiac response to alcohol is a marker of a pathway that may lead to addictive behaviors through increased sensitivity to incentive reward.

Exercising at an appropriate training intensity for individuals is important for improvement of cardiorespiratory fitness. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has recommended that healthy adults exercise at an intensity of 60-80% maximal heart rate reserve (MHRR). The ventilatory threshold (VT) has also been recommended for use to determine intensity for exercise prescription. The purpose of this study was to compare the heart rate at the VT (VTHR) and at 60-80% MHRR. A secondary purpose was to determine the relationship, if any, between age, gender, height, weight, body mass index, percent body fat, resting heart rate, physical activity status (PAS), smoking history, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) at 60 and 80% Hrmax and the difference between the VTHR and 60% MHRR. Subjects were 373 apparently healthy or high risk (as defined by ACSM, 2) individuals (209 men, 164 women), ages 19-77 (46.1+12.8 yr.), from the Ball State University Adult Physical Fitness Program who performed a maximal treadmill test between 1992-1994. VT was selected using a computerized V-slope method by the SensorMedics 2900TI Metabolic Measurement Cart. The VTHR (125.2+16.9) was significantly lower than the 60-80% MHRR (133.1+10.8 to 154.5+12.7) (p<0.05). Two hundred and sixty two subjects (70.1%) were below 60% MHRR and 3 subjects (0.8%) were above 80% MHRR at the VTHR. Multiple regression analysis explained 11.2% of the variance in the difference between the VTHR and 60% MHRR using RPE at 60% HR,,,, PAS, and smoking history. For the majority (70.2%) of the adults in this study, the VTHR falls below the traditional THR of 60-80% MHRR. The 60-80% MHRR would appear to be an appropriate exercise training intensity for cardiorespiratory benefit and therefore the %MHRR range alone would seem to be an adequate training intensity. Further study related to the VTHR is warranted to determine its application, if any, to exercise prescription intensity. / School of Physical Education

Ten trained male track athletes (VO2max = 64.7 ml&middot;kg&middot;min -1) performed three workouts (conditions) with repeated 400-m runs. The intensity and number of repetitions varied among conditions. Condition 1 consisted of two all-out 400-m runs. Condition 2 was 4 x 400-m runs with the first three reps performed 4 s slower than condition 1 and the 4 th rep was all-out. Condition 3 consisted of 8 x 400-m runs with the first seven reps performed 8 s slower than condition 1 and the 8th rep was all-out. Dependent variables were HR, blood lactate and run time for the final rep in each condition. Peak HRs for the last run were 201, 194, 189 beats&middot;min-1 for conditions 1, 2 & 3 respectively, and were not significantly different. Blood lactate values measured 4 min after the last run were 16.6, 17.8 and 17.1 mmol&middot;L -1 in conditions 1, 2 and 3 respectively, and were not significantly different. Run times for conditions 1 (55.2 s), 2 (56.9 s) and 3 (61.5 s) were significantly different (P < 0.05). The decline in performance was greatest in condition 3. The three conditions challenged the anaerobic system with similar peak values for lactate and heart rate during the final run.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1988. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 1999. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 166 p. : ill. (some col.) Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-162).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-100). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--San Francisco State University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-32). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-77).