Twenty-two adult volunteers (11 men, mean ± SD age = 24.5 ±4.3 years) completed all sessions of the experiment. These were all healthy, right-handed non-smoking native English speakers who reported no medical, alcohol- or drug-related problems, and were medication-free at the time of the study. None reported previous head injury or had any MRI contraindications. The participants were light social drinkers and reported drinking alcohol 2.1 ± 1.1 times per week and in low-to-moderate amounts (2.7 ± 0.9 drinks per occasion) adapted Alcohol Use Questionnaire (Cahalan et al., 1969). The quantity or frequency of drinking did not differ between genders. No alcoholism-related symptoms were detected among the participants with Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST, Selzer et al., 1975) and they reported no family history of alcohol or drug abuse (i.e., first or second degree relatives). Written informed consent approved by the Human Research Committee at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Partners Healthcare Network was obtained from all subjects before participation. Participants were compensated for taking part in the study. Four additional subjects completed the study, but their data were
