A hallmark of alcohol abuse is poor decision making with regard to alcohol use. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) (Bechara et al., 1994), simulates real-life decisions with uncertain rewards and punishments. Impaired performance on the IGT has been interpreted in terms of an inability to attach appropriate negative emotional valence to negative consequences. Currently active or recently detoxified alcoholics have demonstrated impaired performance on the SGT (Bechara and Damasio, 2002; Bechara et al., 2001; Mazas et al., 2000), and we (Fein et al., 2004a) have shown persistent impaired performance on the SGT in LTAA. We (Fein et al., 2006) found that multi-year abstinent alcoholics who were impaired on the SGT had bilaterally smaller amygdala volumes compared to controls.
