Ethanol reduces rCFB activation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during a verbal fluency task

In a previous study in normal subjects (Wendt et al., 1994), using a reversing checkerboard as activation stimulus, we found that the coupling between local neuronal activity and regional cerebral blood flow was preserved following ethanol, and that a right-sided occipital activation response seen during sobriety became symmetrical during inebriation. In the present study we investigated if ethanol has a detrimental effect also on the activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex found in normals during verbal fluency. Measurements of regional cerebral blood flow in 20 healthy, young, male, right-handed volunteers during rest and verbal fluency were made during sobriety and inebriation (0.06% blood alcohol concentration) with a 1-week interval. We found a decrease in word production during inebriation. The normal activation within the frontotemporal part of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortext was preserved during inebriation. The activation of this region seems thus to be robust to the effects of ethanol. During inebriation no activation response to the word fluency test was found in the anterior prefrontal part of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This region is important for working, temporal, and short-term memory functions, processes that are affected by ethanol. Hemispheric functioning and specialization seem to be adversely affected by ethanol, regardless of which hemisphere is most involved while sober.