Adolescence is a time of both increased risk taking and increased vulnerability to the neurotoxic effects of alcohol. However, it is unclear whether brain functioning abnormalities in adolescent binge drinkers are a result of alcohol use itself or whether they represent premorbid risk characteristics. The current study addresses this question by using a modified version of the Wheel of Fortune (WOF) task, during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), at both baseline, while all subjects were alcohol-naïve, and revisit, when half of the subjects had emerged into regular binge drinking (n=13) and half remained alcohol and substance-naïve (n=13). Region of interest (ROI) analysis revealed that during decision making, there was a significant binge-drinking related reduction in brain activation in the dorsal striatum, an effect associated with degree of recent use. Furthermore, whole-brain analysis revealed a decrease in fronto-parietal brain activation prior to initiation of alcohol use, in adolescents who went on to binge drink. Additionally, there were numerous regions, both cortical and subcortical, in which there was a significant time-related developmental change, across groups. These results demonstrate how abnormalities in decision-making related circuitry might both lead to and perpetuate alcohol drinking behavior. These findings help aid in our ability to disentangle consequences of binge drinking from potential risk markers for future binge drinking, and may help guide future prevention and intervention strategies.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.01.044 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
December 2024
Pharmacology Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA.
Ovarian-derived estrogen can signal non-canonically at membrane-associated receptors in the brain to rapidly regulate neuronal function. Early alcohol drinking confers greater risk for alcohol use disorder in women than men, and binge alcohol drinking is correlated with high estrogen levels, but a causal role for estrogen in driving alcohol drinking has not been established. We found that female mice displayed greater binge alcohol drinking and reduced avoidance when estrogen was high during the estrous cycle than when it was low.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken)
December 2024
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA.
Background: Researchers have long been interested in identifying objective markers for problem drinking susceptibility informed by the environments in which individuals drink. However, little is known of objective cognitive-behavioral indices relevant to the social contexts in which alcohol is typically consumed. Combining group-based alcohol administration, eye-tracking technology, and longitudinal follow-up over a 2-year span, the current study examined the role of social attention in predicting patterns of problem drinking over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcon Hum Biol
December 2024
Department of Economics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address:
Objective: The objective is to estimate the effect of provincial minimum wage increases in Canada on heavy drinking, binge drinking and average daily alcohol consumption.
Method: We estimate standard regression models by gender-age group with drinking behaviours as the dependent variables and the minimum wage among the independent variables. We employ the Canadian National Population Health Survey which began in 1994 and ended in 2011, a period comparable to that used by many U.
Alcohol
December 2024
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, 34 Park Street, 3(rd) Floor Research, New Haven, CT 06508, USA.
Stress is a major contributing factor to binge drinking and development of alcohol use disorders (AUD), particularly in women. Both stress and chronic ethanol can enhance neuroinflammatory processes, which may dysregulate limbic circuits involved in ethanol reinforcement. Clinical and preclinical studies have identified sex differences in alcohol intake in response to neuroinflammatory triggers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain Behav
December 2024
Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Purpose/objective: This study examined (a) differences in demographic and injury-related characteristics following traumatic brain injury (TBI) between Native American and White individuals; (b) differences in community participation between Native American and White individuals with TBI at 1, 2, and 5 years after TBI; and (c) whether demographic or injury-related characteristics account for community participation disparities.
Research Method/design: A sample of 63 Native American individuals demographically matched to 63 White individuals (n = 126) was enrolled while on acute rehabilitation for moderate or severe TBI. Baseline demographic and injury-related characteristics were collected at this time and the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools (PART-O) measure of community participation at 1, 2, and 5 years after TBI.
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