Recent research has highlighted the role of emotion-based impulsivity for alcohol use and abuse (see Cyders & Smith, 2008). Urgency, which refers to rash action in response to extreme negative (negative urgency) and positive (positive urgency) emotional states, has been shown to be the most important and consistent trait predictor of alcohol problems in cross-sectional (e.g., Cyders et al., 2007), longitudinal (e.g., Cyders et al., 2009; Settles et al., 2010), and experimental (e.g., Cyders et al., 2010, Coskunpinar et al., in press) designs (see a review and meta-analysis by Coskunpinar et al., 2013). However, research has yet to elucidate how these personality traits interact with the brain’s motivational systems. Thus, the current study sought to determine how neural responses to alcohol cues are related to mood states and urgency, and how neural responses and urgency relate to alcohol craving and use.
