Functional neuroimaging findings demonstrated activation to alcohol-related cues, emotional cues, and acute alcohol administration spanning adolescence and adulthood. Drinking in adolescence may be related to SG-dependent alterations in frontal activation. In adults, findings are generally mixed, with some studies demonstrating greater activation in women, some demonstrating greater activation in men, and some showing no SG differences in functional activity in response to cues. Results are also inconsistent regarding the effect of acute alcohol ingestion on brain activation. As with other imaging modalities, findings regarding SG differences in the functional neuroimaging of AUD are limited by inadequate sample size or lack of analysis (see Table 1); thus, further underscoring the need to examine functional neural mechanisms underlying AUD in women and men.
