Another way to examine differences in alcohol-related activation is to utilize an acute alcohol challenge. Two studies conducted by Marinkovic and colleagues found conflicting results regarding SG effects on activation of the ACC, a region thought to be involved in executive cognitive function, in response to acute alcohol administration in healthy social drinkers (Marinkovic, Rickenbacher, Azma, & Artsy, 2012; Marinkovic, Rickenbacher, Azma, Artsy, & Lee, 2013). While both studies found that alcohol vs. placebo administration attenuated ACC activity during a cognitive control task (0.11 vs. 0.08% signal change) (Marinkovic et al., 2012 [0.11 vs. 0.08% signal change]; Marinkovic et al., 2013), one found that social-drinking women reported feeling more intoxicated than men and had lower activity in the left ACC compared to men following acute alcohol administration (Marinkovic et al., 2012) and the other did not find an effect of sex on ACC activity following alcohol administration (Marinkovic et al., 2013). However, the second study also did not find an effect of SG on cognitive control, suggesting that lower activity in the ACC following alcohol consumption impairs cognitive control in
