As we discussed in the previous section, there is compelling evidence that alcohol-related cues lead to increased disinhibition when presented to alcohol-dependent patients [(49, 50); see also (63)]. The pattern of results obtained from studies with non-dependent drinkers is more mixed: both Weafer and Fillmore (64) and Petit et al. (65) demonstrated that alcohol-related pictures caused transient increases in disinhibited behavior. However Nederkoorn et al. (18) found no increase in disinhibition when social drinkers were exposed to alcohol-related pictures (versus other types of pictures), and Jones et al. (66) replicated the methodology of Gauggel et al. (50) in social drinkers and found no change in disinhibition after holding and sniffing an alcoholic drink (compared to exposure to a control drink). This suggests that alcohol-dependent patients may be more vulnerable to fluctuations in disinhibition after exposure to alcohol cues than non-dependent individuals.
