Alcohol Use DisorderALCOOLNETNCT05636033
Semantic Networks in Alcohol Use Disorder Patients: Exploratory Study
An observational study of Alcohol Use Disorder, run by Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France at 1 site in France.
Trial summary
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a major public health problem, characterized by a high rate of relapse. Chronic and excessive alcohol consumption notably induces frontal brain alterations and cognitive impairments such as executive dysfunction and an attentional bias for alcohol, participating to the risk of relapse. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 30 to 60 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- How many people
- 41 participants
- Where
- 1 siteFrance
- Study dates
- 19 Apr 2023to 7 Oct 2025
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 30 to 60 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Study population: Two groups of participants will be included in this study. The first one consists of a pool of alcohol use disorder, the second one consists of a pool of healthy controls ; they will be matched as much as possible on age, gender, and educational level.
Who may be able to join
- For alcohol use disorder patients
- Severe alcohol use disorder
- French as mother tongue
- Right-hander
- Patient abstinent from alcohol since 15 to 30 days at the inclusion
- Patient free from benzodiazepine since at least 48hours at the inclusion
Show all 12Show fewer
- Patient who gave his informed written consent
- Currently in outpatient or inpatient care
- For healthy controls
- French as mother tongue
- Right-hander
- Participant who gave his informed written consent
Who cannot join
- For alcohol use disorder patients
- Patient under guardianship or under justice safeguard measures
- Patient under measure of therapeutic injunction
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding declared
- Meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (DSM) criteria for substance use disorder other than Tobacco
- Meeting DSM-5 criteria for non substance use disorder
Show all 16Show fewer
- Patient presenting severe or progressive disease that interfere with experimental tasks, such as neurological diseases (TBI, epilepsy, stoke) , hepatic diseases, cancer, HIV, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and unstable psychiatric comorbidities.
- For healthy controls
- Participant under guardianship or under justice safeguard measures
- Participant under measure of therapeutic injunction
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding declared
- Meeting DSM-5 criteria for alcohol use disorder
- Meeting DSM-5 criteria for substance use disorder other than Tobacco
- Meeting DSM-5 criteria for non substance use disorder
- Currently under benzodiazepine
- Participant presenting severe or progressive disease that interfere with experimental tasks, such as neurological diseases (TBI, epilepsy, stoke) , hepatic diseases, cancer, HIV, HCV, and unstable psychiatric comorbidities.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a major public health problem, characterized by a high rate of relapse. Chronic and excessive alcohol consumption notably induces frontal brain alterations and cognitive impairments such as executive dysfunction and an attentional bias for alcohol, participating to the risk of relapse. In effect, AUD patients preferentially process alcohol-related cues, which could reflect a reorganization of the patients' semantic network. The investigators hypothesize that in AUD patients, semantic associations in memory are reorganized with a higher centrality of alcohol-related elements. To the investigators knowledge, no studies have explored semantic associations and/or semantic networks in AUD.
A study, conducted in patients with neurological damage, showed that frontal lesions are associated with excessive strength in semantic associations, and difficulties to generate remote associations. This excessive strength in semantic associations could reduce the ability to inhibit automatisms and to adapt to new context.
Read more
Objective: The objective of this study is to explore whether and how AUD patients have a different organization of semantic associations than healthy controls, and whether this reorganization influences the alcohol consumption over the months following the withdrawal. The investigators will also explore how it relates to neuropsychological assessment of flexibility, executive functions, and impulsivity. To these purposes, the investigators will use two original verbal tasks (Free Generation of Associates Task, FGAT and Associative Judgment Task, AJT) assessing word associations and allowing the estimation of semantic networks using graph theory, in combination with neuropsychological testing, in AUD patients and in healthy controls.
Methods: This study will include a group of 30 AUD patients and a group of 30 healthy controls. Both groups will be assessed twice, at baseline (T1; early in abstinence for AUD patients) and after a three-month period (T3). For the two groups, T1 and T3 assessments will include the two semantic association tasks (FGAT and AJT). For AUD patients, assessments will also involve neuropsychological testing of impulsivity, flexibility, and attentional bias. Besides, in AUD patients, data about alcohol consumptions will be collected six weeks (T2) and three months (T3) following the baseline assessment to classify patients as relapsers or abstainers.
- Conditions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- Keywords
- alcohol use disorder, semantic association, semantic networks, cognition
- Medical subject headings
- Alcoholism
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol use disorder patients | Not described | |
| Healthy controls | Not described |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Description of the semantic associations using FGAT
The Free Generation Associated Tasks will be used in Alcohol use disorder patients and Healthy controls
Measured: At baseline (T1)
Description of the semantic associations using AJT
The Associative Judgment Task will be used in Alcohol use disorder patients and Healthy controls
Measured: At baseline (T1)
Secondary outcomes (16)
Impact of medications on the semantic association performance
Measured: At baseline (T1)
Impact of age on the semantic association performance
Measured: At baseline (T1)
Impact of the study level on the semantic association performance
Measured: At baseline (T1)
Impact of gender on the semantic association performance
Measured: At baseline (T1)
Impact of the duration of dependence on the semantic association performance
Measured: At baseline (T1)
Impact of cognitive performance on the semantic association performance
The Go /No Go performance will be collected in Alcohol use disorder patients
Measured: At baseline (T1)
Test of the predictive value of FGAT performance assessed at T1 on alcohol consumption during the six weeks following the Baseline
Measured: Baseline (T1) for FGAT ; T2 (6 weeks after T1) for alcohol consumption
Test of the predictive value of AJT performance assessed at T1 on alcohol consumption during the six weeks following the Baseline
Measured: Baseline (T1) for AJT ; T2 (6 weeks after T1) for alcohol consumption
Test of the predictive value of FGAT performance assessed at T1 on alcohol consumption during the three months following the Baseline
Measured: Baseline (T1) for FGAT ; T3 (3 months after T1) for alcohol consumption
Test of the predictive value of AJT performance assessed at T1 on alcohol consumption during the three months following the Baseline
Measured: Baseline (T1) for AJT ; T3 (3 months after T1) for alcohol consumption
Evolution of FGAT performance, comparison between alcohol use disorder patients and healthy controls
Measured: T1 (baseline) and T3 (3 months after baseline)
Evolution of AJT performance, comparison between alcohol use disorder patients and healthy controls
Measured: T1 (baseline) and T3 (3 months after baseline)
Link between the evolution of FGAT performance and the level of alcohol consumption
The level of alcohol consumption will be assessed using the Timeline Followback method
Measured: Baseline (T1) for FGAT and 3 months after baseline (T3) for FGAT and the level of alcohol consumption)
Link between the evolution of AJT performance and alcohol consumption
The level of alcohol consumption will be assessed using the Timeline Followback method
Measured: Baseline (T1) for AJT and 3 months after baseline (T3) for AJT and the level of alcohol consumption)
Link between the evolution of FGAT performance and the evolution of cognitive performance
The Go /No Go performance will be used in alcohol use disorder patients
Measured: Baseline (T1) and 3 months after baseline (T3)
Link between the evolution of AJT performance and the evolution of cognitive performance
The Go /No Go performance will be used in alcohol use disorder patients
Measured: Baseline (T1) and 3 months after baseline (T3)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted5 Dec 2022
- Study start19 Apr 2023
- Primary completion7 Oct 2025
- Study completion7 Oct 2025
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Alcohol Use DisorderStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, FranceThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Case-control
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Enrolment
- 41 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Sponsor type
- Other government
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Alexandra Dereux, PH (MD), Principal investigator, APHP
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05636033
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- C22-01
- Other IDs
- 2022-A01903-40
- Acronym
- ALCOOLNET
- Status last verified
- Apr 2026
- First submitted
- 3 Nov 2022
- Last updated
- 27 Apr 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 27 Apr 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Semantic Networks in Alcohol Use Disorder Patients: Exploratory Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05636033
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- ALCOOLNET / C22-01
- Conditions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- Keywords
- alcohol use disorder, semantic association, semantic networks, cognition
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 41 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, FranceOther government
- Study start
- 19 Apr 2023 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 7 Oct 2025 (actual)
- Study completion
- 7 Oct 2025 (actual)
- First posted
- 5 Dec 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a major public health problem, characterized by a high rate of relapse. Chronic and excessive alcohol consumption notably induces frontal brain alterations and cognitive impairments such as executive dysfunction and an attentional bias for alcohol, participating to the risk of relapse. In effect, AUD patients preferentially process alcohol-related cues, which could reflect a reorganization of the patients' semantic network. The investigators hypothesize that in AUD patients, semantic associations in memory are reorganized with a higher centrality of alcohol-related elements. To the investigators knowledge, no studies have explored semantic associations and/or semantic networks in AUD.
A study, conducted in patients with neurological damage, showed that frontal lesions are associated with excessive strength in semantic associations, and difficulties to generate remote associations. This excessive strength in semantic associations could reduce the ability to inhibit automatisms and to adapt to new context.
Objective: The objective of this study is to explore whether and how AUD patients have a different organization of semantic associations than healthy controls, and whether this reorganization influences the alcohol consumption over the months following the withdrawal. The investigators will also explore how it relates to neuropsychological assessment of flexibility, executive functions, and impulsivity. To these purposes, the investigators will use two original verbal tasks (Free Generation of Associates Task, FGAT and Associative Judgment Task, AJT) assessing word associations and allowing the estimation of semantic networks using graph theory, in combination with neuropsychological testing, in AUD patients and in healthy controls.
Methods: This study will include a group of 30 AUD patients and a group of 30 healthy controls. Both groups will be assessed twice, at baseline (T1; early in abstinence for AUD patients) and after a three-month period (T3). For the two groups, T1 and T3 assessments will include the two semantic association tasks (FGAT and AJT). For AUD patients, assessments will also involve neuropsychological testing of impulsivity, flexibility, and attentional bias. Besides, in AUD patients, data about alcohol consumptions will be collected six weeks (T2) and three months (T3) following the baseline assessment to classify patients as relapsers or abstainers.
Study design
- Observational model
- Case-control
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol use disorder patients | – | – |
| Healthy controls | – | – |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 30 to 60 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
- Study population
- Two groups of participants will be included in this study. The first one consists of a pool of alcohol use disorder, the second one consists of a pool of healthy controls ; they will be matched as much as possible on age, gender, and educational level.
Key inclusion criteria (12 listed)
- For alcohol use disorder patients
- Severe alcohol use disorder
- French as mother tongue
- Right-hander
- Patient abstinent from alcohol since 15 to 30 days at the inclusion
Key exclusion criteria (16 listed)
- For alcohol use disorder patients
- Patient under guardianship or under justice safeguard measures
- Patient under measure of therapeutic injunction
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding declared
- Meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (DSM) criteria for substance use disorder other than Tobacco
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Description of the semantic associations using FGAT
Time frame: At baseline (T1)
The Free Generation Associated Tasks will be used in Alcohol use disorder patients and Healthy controls
Description of the semantic associations using AJT
Time frame: At baseline (T1)
The Associative Judgment Task will be used in Alcohol use disorder patients and Healthy controls
16 secondary outcomes
Impact of medications on the semantic association performance
Time frame: At baseline (T1)
Impact of age on the semantic association performance
Time frame: At baseline (T1)
Impact of the study level on the semantic association performance
Time frame: At baseline (T1)
Impact of gender on the semantic association performance
Time frame: At baseline (T1)
Impact of the duration of dependence on the semantic association performance
Time frame: At baseline (T1)
Impact of cognitive performance on the semantic association performance
Time frame: At baseline (T1)
Test of the predictive value of FGAT performance assessed at T1 on alcohol consumption during the six weeks following the Baseline
Time frame: Baseline (T1) for FGAT ; T2 (6 weeks after T1) for alcohol consumption
Test of the predictive value of AJT performance assessed at T1 on alcohol consumption during the six weeks following the Baseline
Time frame: Baseline (T1) for AJT ; T2 (6 weeks after T1) for alcohol consumption
Test of the predictive value of FGAT performance assessed at T1 on alcohol consumption during the three months following the Baseline
Time frame: Baseline (T1) for FGAT ; T3 (3 months after T1) for alcohol consumption
Test of the predictive value of AJT performance assessed at T1 on alcohol consumption during the three months following the Baseline
Time frame: Baseline (T1) for AJT ; T3 (3 months after T1) for alcohol consumption
Evolution of FGAT performance, comparison between alcohol use disorder patients and healthy controls
Time frame: T1 (baseline) and T3 (3 months after baseline)
Evolution of AJT performance, comparison between alcohol use disorder patients and healthy controls
Time frame: T1 (baseline) and T3 (3 months after baseline)
Link between the evolution of FGAT performance and the level of alcohol consumption
Time frame: Baseline (T1) for FGAT and 3 months after baseline (T3) for FGAT and the level of alcohol consumption)
Link between the evolution of AJT performance and alcohol consumption
Time frame: Baseline (T1) for AJT and 3 months after baseline (T3) for AJT and the level of alcohol consumption)
Link between the evolution of FGAT performance and the evolution of cognitive performance
Time frame: Baseline (T1) and 3 months after baseline (T3)
Link between the evolution of AJT performance and the evolution of cognitive performance
Time frame: Baseline (T1) and 3 months after baseline (T3)
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 27 Apr 2026.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Alexandra Dereux, PH (MD) principal investigator
APHP
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Alcohol Use Disorder, run by Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France at 1 site in France.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 12 inclusion and 16 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Apr 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in France. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Description of the semantic associations using FGAT (time frame: At baseline (T1)). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 27 Apr 2026.