Alcohol use disorder is associated with altered frontomedial phase-amplitude coupling strength during resting state

Considerable evidence from functional neuroimaging and EEG coherence studies indicates that individuals afflicted with alcohol use disorder (AUD) manifest aberrant patterns of connectivity, particularly in frontal brain regions. Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) is another form of functional connectivity, reflecting the association between the phase at one frequency and amplitude changes at a higher frequency. Significant PAC differences have been reported for other substance use disorders, but it has not yet been investigated in AUD. We compared frontomedial PAC strength during resting state, eyes closed, in adult participants with severe AUD and age-matched unaffected controls from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). Comodulograms of PAC estimates between phase frequencies (0.1-13 Hz) and amplitude frequencies (4-50 Hz) were calculated for all participants. PAC differences between AUD and unaffected groups were assessed at each phase-amplitude frequency pair in comodulograms to identify clusters of significant test results, reporting only those clusters satisfying all validation and significance testing steps. Severe AUD was associated with clusters of significantly greater PAC in alpha-gamma domains of both men and women. Candidate clusters were found in theta-gamma domains of both sexes, but were only significant greater in men with AUD. Significant PAC clusters were found in the delta-gamma domain of both sexes, though women with AUD showed significant decreases in contrast to greater PAC found in men with AUD. The significant PAC clusters identified in this exploratory study could provide new insights into the dysregulation of brain connectivity underlying AUD.