fNIRS identifies right prefrontal hemodynamic signatures for subclassifying Alcohol Use Disorder

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a widespread condition lacking objective neurobiological markers for classification.
• Current AUD diagnosis relies heavily on subjective patient reports.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) for differentiating AUD subtypes based on prefrontal cortex hemodynamic activity.
• To identify objective neurobiological biomarkers for AUD classification.

Main Methods:

• fNIRS was used to monitor hemodynamic responses (oxygenated hemoglobin - HbO, deoxygenated hemoglobin - HbR) in the prefrontal cortex of 80 male AUD patients (acute-onset and poly-symptomatic groups).
• Participants underwent an alcohol cue exposure task.
• Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictive biomarkers.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in HbO levels were found across multiple prefrontal channels (4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15), with channel 4 showing the most variation.
• Channel 13 showed significant differences in HbR.
• HbO in channels 4 and 5, and HbR in channel 13, effectively predicted AUD subtype classification during alcohol cue exposure.

Conclusions:

• The right prefrontal cortex, specifically the right middle frontal gyrus, plays a crucial role in AUD pathophysiology.
• fNIRS-derived hemodynamic measures offer a promising approach for objective AUD classification.
• These biomarkers may inform the development of targeted intervention strategies for AUD.