Chunk #32 — Risk Factors for AUD from Neuropsychological, Neurophysiological, and Neuroimaging Studies — Dysfunction in Decision Making and Affective Responsivity
Evidence for diminished affective responsivity was found in an fMRI study in which offspring from multiplex for alcohol dependence families exhibited diminished BOLD response in the right medial temporal gyrus in comparison to controls when asked to judge facial affect during a theory of mind (ToM) task (Hill et al. 2007b). Young adults with a family history of AUD, and who had been characterized as more disinhibited than young adults without a family history, were more likely to display reduced amygdala activation to fearful faces (Glahn et al. 2007). During a similar passive viewing task of emotional stimuli, Heitzeg et al. (2008) found less bilateral activation of the orbitofrontal gyrus and left insula in a group of offspring of alcoholics with a pattern of problematic drinking during adolescence. Compared to both a non-drinking control group and a high risk group that had refrained from alcohol use during adolescence, the problem drinking group had greater activation in medial prefrontal cortex and decreased activation in the striatum and amygdala. However, no differences were observed between the control and non-drinking high risk groups. Overall, these studies generally suggest differential sensitivity to rewards and affective cues in individuals at risk for AUD.
