The current study is a part of a larger project on binge drinking and brain maturation (O’Leary et al., 2019; Tong et al., 2020). To ensure variability in binge drinking, we recruited 3 groups of participants that were all right-handed and had distinct baseline bingeing: non-bingeing controls (Control), standard bingers (sBinge), and extreme bingers (eBinge). The Control group had no history of marijuana use or standard/extreme bingeing, but non-binge alcohol consumption (1–2 drinks/occasion) was allowed. To be included in the sBinge/eBinge groups, participants must have had at least 2 sBinge/eBinge episodes, respectively, in the past 30 days or since the semester began. Additionally, to minimize potential effects of marijuana, sBinge/eBinge participants must have had no more than 3 occasions of marijuana use in the past month, and no more than 30 lifetime uses. Both bingeing groups also had to have limited lifetime use (<15 times) of other substances except nicotine. Other exclusion criteria included: history of seizure disorders, head injury, neurologic, metabolic, or cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular events, or meeting DSM-IV criteria for major psychiatric disorders (including substance use disorders other than alcohol use disorder for both binge groups), based on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (Sheehan et al., 1998).
