Alcohol Cue Processing in Co-Occurring Bipolar Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder.

Importance: Reward circuitry dysfunction is a candidate mechanism of co-occurring bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder (BD + AUD) that remains understudied. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research represents the first evaluation of alcohol cue reward processing in BD + AUD.

Objective: To determine how alcohol cue processing in individuals with BD + AUD may be distinct from that of individuals with AUD or BD alone.

Intraindividual changes in brain GABA, glutamate, and glutamine during monitored abstinence from alcohol in treatment-naive individuals with alcohol use disorder.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( H-MRS) studies have demonstrated abnormal levels of a variety of neurometabolites in treatment-seeking individuals with moderate-severe alcohol use disorder (AUD) following acute withdrawal. In contrast, few studies have investigated neurochemical changes across early abstinence in less severe, treatment-naïve AUD. The present study, which represents the primary report of a research grant from ABMRF/The Alcohol Research Fund, measured dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) GABA, glutamate, and glutamine levels in treatment-naïve AUD (n = 23) via three H-MRS scans spaced across a planned week of abstinence from alcohol.

Evidence for a unique association between fronto-cortical glycine levels and recent heavy drinking in treatment naïve individuals with alcohol use disorder.

Although the neurotransmitters/modulators glutamate and, more recently, glycine have been implicated in the development and maintenance of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in preclinical research, human proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) studies have focused solely on the measurement of glutamate. The purpose of the present analysis was to examine the relative associations of brain glutamate and glycine levels with recent heavy drinking in 41 treatment naïve individuals with AUD using H-MRS. The present study is the first that we are aware of to report in vivo brain glycine levels from an investigation of addiction.