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Influence of Alcohol Use and Family History of Alcoholism on Neural Response to Alcohol Cues in College Drinkers
Author(s) -
Dager Alecia D.,
Anderson Beth M.,
Stevens Michael C.,
Pulido Carmen,
Rosen Rivkah,
JiantonioKelly Rachel E.,
Sisante JasonFlor,
Raskin Sarah A.,
Tennen Howard,
Austad Carol S.,
Wood Rebecca M.,
Fallahi Carolyn R.,
Pearlson Godfrey D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2012.01879.x
Subject(s) - functional magnetic resonance imaging , alcohol , family history , cue reactivity , psychology , heavy drinking , amygdala , alcohol dependence , audiology , clinical psychology , neuroscience , medicine , craving , alcohol consumption , chemistry , biochemistry , addiction
Background Heavy drinkers show altered functional magnetic resonance imaging (f MRI ) response to alcohol cues. Little is known about alcohol cue reactivity among college age drinkers, who show the greatest rates of alcohol use disorders. Family history of alcoholism (family history positive [ FHP ]) is a risk factor for problematic drinking, but the impact on alcohol cue reactivity is unclear. We investigated the influence of heavy drinking and family history of alcoholism on alcohol cue‐related f MRI response among college students. Methods Participants were 19 family history negative ( FHN ) light drinkers, 11 FHP light drinkers, 25 FHN heavy drinkers, and 10 FHP heavy drinkers, aged 18 to 21. During f MRI scanning, participants viewed alcohol images, nonalcohol beverage images, and degraded control images, with each beverage image presented twice. We characterized blood oxygen level‐dependent ( BOLD ) contrast for alcohol versus nonalcohol images and examined BOLD response to repeated alcohol images to understand exposure effects. Results Heavy drinkers exhibited greater BOLD response than light drinkers in posterior visual association regions, anterior cingulate, medial frontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and dorsal striatum, and hyperactivation to repeated alcohol images in temporo‐parietal, frontal, and insular regions (clusters > 8,127 μl, p < 0.05). FHP individuals showed increased activation to repeated alcohol images in temporo‐parietal regions, fusiform, and hippocampus. There were no interactions between family history and drinking group. Conclusions Our results parallel findings of hyperactivation to alcohol cues among heavy drinkers in regions subserving visual attention, memory, motivation, and habit. Heavy drinkers demonstrated heightened activation to repeated alcohol images, which could influence continued drinking. Family history of alcoholism was associated with greater response to repeated alcohol images in regions underlying visual attention, recognition, and encoding, which could suggest aspects of alcohol cue reactivity that are independent of personal drinking. Heavy drinking and family history of alcoholism may have differential impacts on neural circuitry involved in cue reactivity.