Alcohol DrinkingNCT06687525
Alcohol and the Social Brain: An Alcohol-Administration Hyperscanning Study
An observational study of Alcohol Drinking and Alcohol Use Disorder, run by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
In this study, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 21 to 30 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Alcohol Drinking, Alcohol Use Disorder, Alcohol Intoxication
- How many people
- 240 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 5 Apr 2024to 1 Jun 2028
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 21 to 30 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Study population: Healthy regular drinkers aged 21-30
Who may be able to join
- Between the ages of 21 and 30
- Regularly consumes alcohol
Who cannot join
- History of adverse reaction to the amount of beverage employed in the study
- Have a history of major problems associated with alcohol
- Take medications that could adversely interact with alcohol
- Have medical conditions that contraindicate alcohol administration
- Individuals with a history of skull fractures or who indicate discomfort with EEG procedures used
- Female participant is pregnant or trying to become pregnant
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois, 61820
About this study
In this study, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context.
Read the detailed description
Objective: Alcohol's ability to boost mood in the face of stress is perhaps its most notoriously addictive property, long held by researchers to be of critical importance for understanding alcohol use disorder (AUD) etiology. Yet, while most real-world alcohol consumption occurs in social settings, in the context of laboratory studies, participants have almost always consumed alcohol alone. The discrepancy between real-world and laboratory contexts emerges as particularly stark in the neuroimaging literature, where no alcohol-administration study to date has incorporated in-vivo social context. In this first alcohol-administration study to leverage EEG hyperscanning methods, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context.
Specifically, this study aims to characterize the mechanisms driving social reward from alcohol in the context of stress and elucidate the role of social processes and novel social context in driving problem drinking.
Study Population: Participants will consist of 240 regular drinkers, aged 21-30, with no reported history of severe alcohol use disorder.
Design: In the laboratory arm of the study, individuals will be randomly assigned to consume either a moderate dose of alcohol or a control beverage in stranger dyads. Participants will engage in both structured and unstructured tasks aimed at assessing social engagement and threat sensitivity. EEG and ERP data will be collected from both participants simultaneously. In the ambulatory study arm, participants will wear transdermal sensors to assess BAC and will further provide information about their mood and their social contexts in response to random prompts.
Outcome Measures: Primary outcome measures include EEG measures of inter-brain entrainment as well as ERP metrics derived from task contexts (both players and observers). Additional outcomes include measures of positive mood, negative mood, and social bonding. Finally, drinking behaviors will be assessed via transdermal ambulatory alcohol sensors and longitudinal self-reports of drinking.
- Conditions
- Alcohol Drinking, Alcohol Use Disorder, Alcohol Intoxication, Alcohol; Harmful Use, Alcoholism, Binge Drinking
- Medical subject headings
- Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholism, Alcoholic Intoxication, Binge Drinking
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Inter-brain entrainment
The association between dyad-members EEG signals during the hyperscanning task
Measured: During active laboratory beverage manipulation exposure (during or immediately after beverage administration, at which time participants in the alcohol condition will register a positive BAC)
Feedback-related negativity
An ERP component calculated from a time-estimation task
Measured: During active laboratory beverage manipulation exposure (during or immediately after beverage administration, at which time participants in the alcohol condition will register a positive BAC)
Ambulatory Drinking
Drinking behavior assessed outside the laboratory using ambulatory assessment
Measured: 14 days
Longitudinal Drinking Problems
Drinking assessed at longitudinal follow-up
Measured: Up to 24 months post-baseline
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted13 Nov 2024
- Study start5 Apr 2024
- Primary completion26 Jan 2026
- Study completion1 Jun 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (3)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Alcohol DrinkingStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Other
- Enrolment
- 240 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Catharine E Fairbairn, Ph.D., Principal investigator, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06687525
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2R01AA025969
- Status last verified
- Apr 2026
- First submitted
- 26 Aug 2024
- Last updated
- 4 May 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Data is being shared on the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive
Publications
Sayette MA, Creswell KG, Dimoff JD, Fairbairn CE, Cohn JF, Heckman BW, Kirchner TR, Levine JM, Moreland RL. Alcohol and group formation: a multimodal investigation of the effects of alcohol on emotion and social bonding. Psychol Sci. 2012 Aug 1;23(8):869-78. doi: 10.1177/0956797611435134. Epub 2012 Jul 3.
PubMed 22760882Fairbairn CE, Sayette MA. A social-attributional analysis of alcohol response. Psychol Bull. 2014 Sep;140(5):1361-82. doi: 10.1037/a0037563.
PubMed 25180806Fairbairn CE, Kang D, Federmeier KD. Alcohol and Neural Dynamics: A Meta-analysis of Acute Alcohol Effects on Event-Related Brain Potentials. Biol Psychiatry. 2021 May 15;89(10):990-1000. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.024. Epub 2020 Dec 11.
PubMed 33579536
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 May 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Alcohol and the Social Brain: An Alcohol-Administration Hyperscanning Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06687525
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2R01AA025969
- Conditions
- Alcohol Drinking, Alcohol Use Disorder, Alcohol Intoxication, Alcohol; Harmful Use, Alcoholism, Binge Drinking
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 240 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 5 Apr 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 26 Jan 2026 (actual)
- Study completion
- 1 Jun 2028 (estimated)
- First posted
- 13 Nov 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
In this study, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context.
Detailed description
Objective: Alcohol's ability to boost mood in the face of stress is perhaps its most notoriously addictive property, long held by researchers to be of critical importance for understanding alcohol use disorder (AUD) etiology. Yet, while most real-world alcohol consumption occurs in social settings, in the context of laboratory studies, participants have almost always consumed alcohol alone. The discrepancy between real-world and laboratory contexts emerges as particularly stark in the neuroimaging literature, where no alcohol-administration study to date has incorporated in-vivo social context. In this first alcohol-administration study to leverage EEG hyperscanning methods, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context.
Specifically, this study aims to characterize the mechanisms driving social reward from alcohol in the context of stress and elucidate the role of social processes and novel social context in driving problem drinking.
Study Population: Participants will consist of 240 regular drinkers, aged 21-30, with no reported history of severe alcohol use disorder.
Design: In the laboratory arm of the study, individuals will be randomly assigned to consume either a moderate dose of alcohol or a control beverage in stranger dyads. Participants will engage in both structured and unstructured tasks aimed at assessing social engagement and threat sensitivity. EEG and ERP data will be collected from both participants simultaneously. In the ambulatory study arm, participants will wear transdermal sensors to assess BAC and will further provide information about their mood and their social contexts in response to random prompts.
Outcome Measures: Primary outcome measures include EEG measures of inter-brain entrainment as well as ERP metrics derived from task contexts (both players and observers). Additional outcomes include measures of positive mood, negative mood, and social bonding. Finally, drinking behaviors will be assessed via transdermal ambulatory alcohol sensors and longitudinal self-reports of drinking.
Study design
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Other
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 21 to 30 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
- Study population
- Healthy regular drinkers aged 21-30
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Between the ages of 21 and 30
- Regularly consumes alcohol
Key exclusion criteria (6 listed)
- History of adverse reaction to the amount of beverage employed in the study
- Have a history of major problems associated with alcohol
- Take medications that could adversely interact with alcohol
- Have medical conditions that contraindicate alcohol administration
- Individuals with a history of skull fractures or who indicate discomfort with EEG procedures used
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Inter-brain entrainment
Time frame: During active laboratory beverage manipulation exposure (during or immediately after beverage administration, at which time participants in the alcohol condition will register a positive BAC)
The association between dyad-members EEG signals during the hyperscanning task
Feedback-related negativity
Time frame: During active laboratory beverage manipulation exposure (during or immediately after beverage administration, at which time participants in the alcohol condition will register a positive BAC)
An ERP component calculated from a time-estimation task
Ambulatory Drinking
Time frame: 14 days
Drinking behavior assessed outside the laboratory using ambulatory assessment
Longitudinal Drinking Problems
Time frame: Up to 24 months post-baseline
Drinking assessed at longitudinal follow-up
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 May 2026.
- Background: PubMed 22760882Sayette MA, Creswell KG, Dimoff JD, Fairbairn CE, Cohn JF, Heckman BW, Kirchner TR, Levine JM, Moreland RL. Alcohol and group formation: a multimodal investigation of the effects of alcohol on emotion and social bonding. Psychol Sci. 2012 Aug 1;23(8):869-78. doi: 10.1177/0956797611435134. Epub 2012 Jul 3.
- Background: PubMed 25180806Fairbairn CE, Sayette MA. A social-attributional analysis of alcohol response. Psychol Bull. 2014 Sep;140(5):1361-82. doi: 10.1037/a0037563.
- Background: PubMed 33579536Fairbairn CE, Kang D, Federmeier KD. Alcohol and Neural Dynamics: A Meta-analysis of Acute Alcohol Effects on Event-Related Brain Potentials. Biol Psychiatry. 2021 May 15;89(10):990-1000. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.024. Epub 2020 Dec 11.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Data is being shared on the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive
Related trials for Alcohol Drinking
Recruiting
Trial Phase: Syndemic Adapted Medly Uganda
Mental Health
RecruitingPhase 1
Environment and Alcohol: A Pilot Study
Alcohol Use Disorder
Not yet recruiting
A MRT to Optimize a JITAI for Alcohol Craving and Suicide Ideation
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), Suicide Ideation
RecruitingPhase 2
Study on Thiamine Supplementation to REduce braiN Injury Associated With Chronic Alcohol Use in Outpatients With Alcohol Use Disorder
Alcohol Use Disorder
Active, not recruitingObservational study
A Longitudinal Cohort Study to Evaluate Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Disease in Haiti
Hypertension, Diabetes
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Catharine E Fairbairn, Ph.D. principal investigator
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Alcohol Drinking and Alcohol Use Disorder, run by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 May 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Inter-brain entrainment (time frame: During active laboratory beverage manipulation exposure (during or immediately after beverage administration, at which time participants in the alcohol condition will register a positive BAC)). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06687525, which also lists 3 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 May 2026.