Functional connectivity in the central executive network predicts changes in binge drinking behavior during emerging adulthood: an observational prospective study.

Background And Aims: Binge drinking contributes to the immense public health burden associated with alcohol use, especially among younger drinkers. Little is known about the underlying neurobiology of changes in this behavior over time. This preliminary study aimed to identify neurobiological markers of binge drinking behavior change during emerging adulthood.

Design: Observational prospective investigation of neurobiological predictors of binge drinking behavior.

Setting: Communities surrounding a large, public university in the northeastern United States.

Participants: A total of 42 emerging adults (48% female), approximately half meeting criteria for an alcohol use disorder.

Measurements: Past month binge drinking, the dependent variable, was assessed at two time-points (T1, T2) via self-report. Ten indices of resting-state functional connectivity within the central executive network (CEN), a brain network involved in executive function, were collected at T1 and specified as independent variables in cross-sectional and prospective Poisson models. All models controlled for age, sex, and alcohol use disorder status.

Findings: The cross-sectional model yielded five significant associations between CEN connectivity and binge drinking incidence. Connections anchored primarily in the anterior CEN exhibited negative associations with binge drinking incidence (P = 0.001, 0.004, 0.011), and connections stemming from the right posterior parietal cortex exhibited positive associations with binge drinking incidence (P = 0.041, 0.045). In prospective models, stronger frontoparietal connectivity between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left posterior parietal cortex predicted greater increases in binge drinking incidence over time (P = 0.003).

Conclusions: There is an association between central executive network connectivity and heavy drinking, as well as evidence that functional pathways within the central executive network may contribute to changes in problematic drinking behaviors.