As previously mentioned, brain areas associated with reward become activated in response to alcohol-related cues in heavy drinkers and in those who transitioned to AUD. Regarding SG differences in alcohol cue-induced activation, findings suggest that women with AUD activated reward circuits, cognitive control circuits, part of the salience network, including anterior insula, and the default-mode network (DMN) in response to cue-induced ‘high-risk’ decisions to drink compared to ‘low-risk’ decisions to drink relative to healthy control women (Arcurio, Finn, & James, 2015). In response to alcohol taste cues, heavy drinkers activated the ACC, bilateral amygdala, right lateral OFC, anterior insula, thalamus, and putamen, but men showed greater response in the left amygdala compared to women (Claus, Ewing, Filbey, Sabbineni, & Hutchison, 2011). Neuroadaptations related to AUD in these regions may be related to maladaptive regulation of neural circuits related to reward and cognition and may have implications for the likelihood of high-risk drinking in response to alcohol cues. For example, a recent resting state fMRI study found that drinking was associated with SG differences in thalamic connectivity in relation to AUDIT
