Alcohol-induced impairment of behavioral control: effects on the alteration and suppression of prepotent responses.

The findings point to the susceptibility of inhibitory processes by showing that alcohol can be particularly detrimental to behavioral control in situations where prepotent responses must be completely suppressed. Evidence for alcohol-induced impairment of inhibitory functions could provide important clues about basic behavioral mechanisms by which alcohol disrupts such higher order cognitive processes as working memory, learning and decision making.