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Neuropsychological performance, acute alcohol intoxication and aggression in adult males

Epidemiological and laboratory research supports a relationship between acute alcohol intoxication and aggression. Recent data suggest that alcohol disrupts cognitive abilities associated with frontal lobe function. Moreover, neuropsychological research provides suggestive evidence that frontal lobe dysfunction may predispose an individual to increased aggression. The research recounted in this thesis was conducted to investigate the role of individual differences of cognitive abilities associated with the dorsolateral frontal cortex in aggressive behaviour and to test the hypothesis that alcohol indirectly potentiates aggression by impairing these cognitive abilities. The three experiments included in this thesis demonstrated that: (1) acute alcohol intoxication interferes with the ability to integrate previously acquired knowledge in the formulation of behavioral strategies; (2) individuals grouped according to performance on two neuropsychological tests of cognitive abilities associated with frontal lobe function differ in degree of aggressive response. Specifically, individuals in the lower versus upper performance quartiles became more aggressive when provoked; and (3) individuals in the upper cognitive performance quartile demonstrate significantly greater reductions of unprovoked aggression in response to monetary reward.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.29070
Date January 1995
CreatorsLau, Mark, 1959-
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageDoctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001480790, proquestno: NN08125, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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