The goal of this research is to evaluate and quantify the effects of ethanol on human cognition. Many studies with a variety of experimental designs demonstrate that ethanol impairs memory and the acquisition, retention, and retrieval of information. Unfortunately, there is little systematic investigation of the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms underlying these effects. The proposed research uses a variety of computerized cognitive tasks to investigate the impact of ethanol on components of cognition that are necessary for normal functioning. Specific aim 1 evaluates the effect of ethanol on attention, sensory processing, motor function, and higher order cognitive processes. Specific aim 2 investigates the impact of ethanol on processes involved in performing two types of complex information processing tasks: associative and rule-governed sequential information processing. The experimental design consists of 4 randomized balanced treatments: alcohol, sucrose, placebo, and no-treatment. The research plan has 4 treatments times 2 subject groups for a total of 8 groups of 40 men and women. The plan requires 100 subjects and lasts 30 weeks; each subject participates for 8 sessions and returns for 6 sessions over the first 12 weeks. The specific aims will be addressed using a range of cognitive tasks that will include reaction time, selective attention, memory, error processing, motor function, information processing, decision processes, and motor learning tasks. The experimental design is a multi-treatment factorial with three treatment factors: alcohol, gender, and dose. Alcohol dose is varied from 0 to 0.05% ethanol. Each experimental session will begin at approximately 8:30 am and end at approximately 5:30 pm. The research will provide important data on the effects of alcohol and gender on neurocognitive functions of relevance to many important societal issues. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of this research is to evaluate and quantify the effects of alcohol on human cognition. Alcohol consumption is related to a wide variety of important societal problems including car crashes, violence, and child abuse. The consequences of alcohol consumption are not limited to the individual who drinks but also have financial and social consequences for the community. Understanding the factors that contribute to the negative consequences of alcohol on human cognition is critical to the development of strategies to prevent problems associated with alcohol use. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]