fMRI of alcohol craving after individual cues: a follow-up case report

Alcohol addiction is typically associated with intense alcohol craving triggered by internal or environmental cues linked with past alcohol use. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record cerebral correlates of craving in an alcoholic patient. Craving was evoked by highly individual cues associated with past alcohol use and was assessed before (T1) and after an 8-month period of psychotherapy (T2). To control for effects of life event memories related to non alcoholic cravings, the patient provided two events from periods of his life when he experienced caffeine craving. We detected activation of the superior temporal lobe during recall of a highly alcohol craving situation (T1 minus T2), whereas we did not observe any activation during coffee craving recall when pre und post activations were compared. These results indicate that the superior temporal lobe may be involved when alcohol craving is initiated by individual verbal cues. Further studies using individual cues are needed to explore the neural correlates of alcohol craving.