Neural Processes of an Indirect Analog of Risk Taking in Young Nondependent Adult Alcohol Drinkers-An fMRI Study of the Stop Signal Task

Background:  Alcohol abuse and dependence are common problems in the United States that stem from a variety of factors, one of which may be a period of high level social drinking during college and early adulthood. Extant study implicates risk taking as a cognitive factor that contributes to habitua...

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Published in:Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research clinical and experimental research, 2012-05, Vol.36 (5), p.768-779
Main Authors: Bednarski, Sarah R., Erdman, Emily, Luo, Xi, Zhang, Sheng, Hu, Sien, Li, Chiang-Shan R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictive behaviors
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol Drinking - physiopathology
Alcohol Drinking - psychology
Alcohol use
Alcoholism
Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning
Aversion
Beverages
Biological and medical sciences
Brain - physiopathology
Brain mapping
Caudate nucleus
Clinical trials
Cognitive ability
Cognitive Control
Cortex (frontal)
Data processing
Drinking behavior
Drug abuse
Ethanol
Female
frontal gyrus
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Gender Difference
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Medical sciences
Neuroimaging
Neuropsychological Tests
Prefrontal
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Risk Taking
Social behavior
Statistics
Toxicology
Young Adult
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Summary:Background:  Alcohol abuse and dependence are common problems in the United States that stem from a variety of factors, one of which may be a period of high level social drinking during college and early adulthood. Extant study implicates risk taking as a cognitive factor that contributes to habitual and heavy drinking. We sought to examine the neural processes of risk taking in young, nondependent drinkers. Methods:  We compared 20 young adult social drinkers with a high level of alcohol use (AH), as defined by number of drinks per month, and 21 demographically matched drinkers with low to moderate alcohol use (ALM) in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of the stop signal task. By contrasting risk taking (speeded) to risk aversion (slowed) trials, we examined the neural correlates of risk taking. Brain imaging data were analyzed with Statistical Parametric Mapping. Regions of interest were identified and corresponding effect sizes were examined for correlations with self‐reported alcohol use. Results:  The results showed that, compared with ALM, AH demonstrated decreased activation in right superior frontal gyrus and left caudate nucleus when contrasting risk taking and risk aversion trials at p 
ISSN:0145-6008
1530-0277
DOI:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01672.x