2001), memory (Soderlund et al. 2005), cognitive performance (Pihl et al., 2003), and the unpleasant subjective effects of alcohol (Evans & Levin, 2004). Specifically, light drinkers3 are more likely than heavy drinkers to activate negative and sedating alcohol expectancies associated with the descending limb (Dunn & Earleywine, 2001) and report greater dislike of the alcohol during that limb (Evans & Levin, 2004). Impairments in executive cognitive functioning were found to be greater during the descending limb of intoxication (Pihl et al., 2003) and word recognition was found to be impaired only on the ascending limb (Soderlund et al., 2005). Moreover, limb of BAC was proposed as an important feature of the differentiator model (Newlin and Thompson, 1990) of subjective response to alcohol. Together, these findings argue for research that takes into account limb of the BAC when examining the subjective effects of alcohol as well as medications thought to work by altering alcohol’s subjective effects (e.g., reducing its rewarding effects; increasing its unpleasant effects).
