Alcohol and the Social Brain: An Alcohol-Administration Hyperscanning Study

April 28, 2026 updated by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
In this study, the investigators aim to capture inter- and intra-brain mechanisms underlying alcohol reward in novel social context.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

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 Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

240

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Champaign, Illinois, United States, 61820
        • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy regular drinkers aged 21-30

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Between the ages of 21 and 30
  • Regularly consumes alcohol

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 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

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
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
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
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
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
Time Frame: 14 days
Drinking behavior assessed outside the laboratory using ambulatory assessment
14 days
Longitudinal Drinking Problems
Time Frame: Up to 24 months post-baseline
Drinking assessed at longitudinal follow-up
Up to 24 months post-baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Catharine E Fairbairn, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 5, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 26, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 26, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 11, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

November 13, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2R01AA025969 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data is being shared on the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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