Behavioural cue reactivity to alcohol-related and non-alcohol-related stimuli among individuals with alcohol use disorder: An fMRI study with a visual task.

Shou Fukushima,Hiroki Ozawa,Takeo Mutou,Hironori Kuga,Naoya Oribe,Takefumi Yuzuriha,Takefumi Ueno,Kazutaka Ikeda

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0229187

Shou Fukushima, Hiroki Ozawa + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229187

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Abstract

Patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) have difficulty controlling their alcohol cravings and thus exhibit increased use and early relapse. Although patients tend to respond more strongly to alcohol-related images than to non-alcohol-related images, few researchers have examined the factors that modulate cravings. Here, we examined whole-brain blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses to behavioural cues in individuals with AUD and in healthy controls (HCs). The participants included 24 patients with AUD and 15 HCs. We presented visual cues consisting of four beverage-related images (juice, drinking juice, sake, and drinking sake), and the cue reactivity of AUD participants was contrasted with that of HC participants. Multiple comparisons revealed that the AUD group had lower BOLD responses than the HC group in the left precuneus (p = 0.036) and the left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) (p = 0.044) to images of drinking juice and higher BOLD responses than the HC group in the left PCC (p = 0.044) to images of drinking sake. Furthermore, compared to the HCs, the AUD patients had decreased BOLD responses associated with cue reactivity to drinking juice in the left precuneus during the periods from 15 to 18 s (p = 0.004, df = 37) and 18 to 21 s (p = 0.002, df = 37). Our findings suggest that HCs and AUD patients differ in their responses not to images of alcoholic beverages but to images related to alcohol-drinking behaviour. Thus, these patients appear to have different patterns of brain activity. This information may aid clinicians in developing treatments for patients with AUD.

Highlights

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 3.3 million deaths every year result from the harmful use of alcohol, accounting for 5.9% of all deaths in the world [1]
To address the question of whether and how the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and other brain regions related to the default mode network (DMN) are implicated in the deficits, we examined possible alterations in brain function in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) using functional MRI with beverage image cues
Behavioural cue reactivity of patients with alcohol use disorder with AUD had higher responses to the stimulus associated with alcohol-drinking behaviour than to a stimulus that contained an image of an alcoholic beverage

Summary

Methods

The sample consisted of 15 healthy controls (HCs), and 24 patients with AUD. Twenty-three participants were diagnosed with severe AUD according to the DSM-5 criteria [13], and one participant was diagnosed with moderate AUD. We measured cognitive impairment using the Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE). All participants were between 25 and 60 years of age. The HCs were screened using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID)–non-patient edition [14], and the HCs were confirmed not to have any present or previous mental health problems

Results

Discussion

Conclusion