Alcohol-induced suppression of BOLD activity during goal-directed visuomotor performance

The neurophysiological influence of alcohol produces deficits of many cognitive functions, including executive and motor control processes. This study examined the acute effects of alcohol in the context of goal-directed visuomotor performance during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects consumed alcohol-laced gelatin during one scan session and non-alcoholic placebo gelatin in another. During each session, subjects performed a visuomotor target capture where they received continuous or terminal positional feedback information. Blood-oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activity in the cerebellum was suppressed in the presence of alcohol, consistent with the known ethanol sensitivity of the cerebellum. A fronto-parietal network was identified as most affected by alcohol consumption, with differential patterns of BOLD contingent on visual feedback. Results indicate that alcohol selectively suppresses cognitive activity in frontal and posterior parietal brain regions that, in conjunction with cerebellar nuclei, are believed to contribute to the formation of internal cognitive models of motor representation and action.