Few studies in AUD have attempted to specify which basic specific cognitive functions support decision-making skills. This ability is reliant on multiple cognitive component processes that can include working memory, inhibition, rule deduction, and reversal learning skills (Dunn et al., 2006), with emotional processes also being potentially influential [for a somatic marker hypothesis of addiction, see (Verdejo-Garcia and Bechara, 2009)]. Among the sparse studies in this realm is one report showing that impaired decision-making performance under conditions of ambiguity could be related to poor response inhibition (Noel et al., 2007). Another study revealed a link between a deficit in decision-making under risky conditions and poor working memory (Brevers et al., 2014). Yet how these compromises affect treatment outcome remains unknown.
