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Disruption of Frontal Lobe Neural Synchrony During Cognitive Control by Alcohol Intoxication
Published on: February 6, 2019
Resting-state synchrony in long-term abstinent alcoholics
Jazmin Camchong1, Andy Stenger, George Fein
1Neurobehavioral Research, Inc., Honolulu, HI 96814, USA. jcamchong@nbresearch.com
Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research
|June 26, 2012
Summary
Long-term abstinent alcoholics show altered brain connectivity during rest. These changes involve reduced reward region synchrony and increased executive control region synchrony, potentially aiding abstinence.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Addiction Research
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Alcohol dependence is characterized by compulsive alcohol seeking and impaired inhibition.
- Neuroimaging suggests altered brain network involvement in appetitive drive and executive control.
- Brain changes associated with long-term alcohol abstinence remain poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate resting-state functional connectivity differences in long-term abstinent alcoholics (LTAA) compared to controls.
- To explore the relationship between resting-state synchrony (RSS) and cognitive flexibility.
Main Methods:
- Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess RSS.
- Seed-based analysis focused on the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC).
- Participants completed the intra/extradimensional set shift task to measure cognitive flexibility.
Main Results:
- LTAA exhibited decreased synchrony between limbic reward regions and both the anterior cingulate cortex and NAcc seeds.
- LTAA showed increased synchrony between executive control regions and both the NAcc and sgACC seeds.
- Differences in RSS correlated significantly with performance on the cognitive flexibility task.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest an ongoing compensatory mechanism in LTAA during rest.
- Decision-making networks in LTAA display reduced synchrony with appetitive drive regions and increased synchrony with inhibitory control regions.
- These adaptive resting-state changes may support behavioral control and maintenance of abstinence.
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