Sensitively SMASHED! : effects of acute alcohol intoxication on a serious go/no-go inhibitory control task

Inhibitory control is a key deficit of many individuals with a substance use disorder and has become a measure of interest for predicting treatment outcomes. However, traditional measures of inhibitory control have been deemed monotonous and unappealing. We have developed a brief computerised inhibitory control task - SMASHED! - using a serious game approach which could potentially be used as an engaging clinical assessment tool. It utilises the go/no-go paradigm with 'go'stimuli being healthy bottles and 'no-go' stimuli being alcoholic bottles. This within-subjects, single-blind, seven-day test-retest, double-dosing study was designed to validate SMASHED! and determine its sensitivity to acute alcohol intoxication (BrAC=.050%, .080%) using a healthy adult population (N=36; 61% female). SMASHED! demonstrated trivial to moderate magnitude correlations with a traditional inhibitory control task, possibly due to ceiling effects. Minimal learning effects were apparent on seven-day retest. SMASHED! demonstrated sensitivity to acute alcohol intoxication with significant, dose-dependent increases in participant reaction time. Gamified elements made SMASHED! engaging and enjoyable for participants but potentially contributed to participants altering their task approach. Further development of SMASHED! is necessary to ensure it is a valid and sensitive measure of inhibitory control and reduce ceiling effects.