disorder, providing valuable insights into the causal brain mechanisms underlying addiction [25–27]. In contrast to these addictions, the formation and development of AUD are influenced by specific genetic and environmental risk factors [28–30]. One example of an alcohol-specific mechanism is a variant of the aldehyde dehydrogenase gene, ALDH2 [31]. The investigation of causal brain mechanisms underlying AUD through spectral DCM offers novel insights into the diagnosis and treatment of this condition, contributing to a more sophisticated understanding of the field. However, to date, no study utilizing spectral DCM has assessed AUD in the absence of external stimulation. Furthermore, the previous studies in resting state analysis relied on a priori knowledge for selecting regions of interest (ROIs), potentially overlooking other meaningful domains that could be explored using MVPA. In this investigation, we utilized MVPA to identify ROIs for efficient connectivity, thereby capitalizing on the informative value provided by MVPA.
