alcohol withdrawal syndrome (abstinent for at least two weeks), and having a Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol Scale (CIWA) score of greater than 7; (b) without dependent on substances other than alcohol or nicotine. Both AUD patients and HCs met the following criteria: (a) 18–55-years-old; (b) right-handed; (c) normal or corrected vision; (d) no history of brain injury; (e) no taking drugs with significant anticholinergic effects such as benzodiazepine and clozapine, and (f) no any contraindications for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. HCs also met the inclusion criteria, without any neurological or mental disorders; Overall, a total of n = 36 males with AUD were enrolled of whom n = 30 patients with complete behavioral assessments and fMRI data were included in current analyses (n = 2 patients had to be excluded due to fMRI artifacts and n = 4 additional patients had to be excluded due to they had been diagnosed with another mental disorders, three patients had anxiety disorders and one patients had mild depression). The severity of alcohol dependence was assessed using the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) [33] and Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) [34]. To determine the duration of problematic drinking, each AUD
