Interestingly, the most comparable study by Wetherill et al., 2011 found decreased connectivity between bilateral frontal and parietal regions during VWM in FHP youth while we found increased connectivity between similar regions during SWM. One potential reason for this divergence may be the sensitivity of specific neural substrates to detect FH, or neurodevelopmental, effects. While the critical neural substrates of visual working memory are located in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, spatial working memory relies on a more superior and dorsal stream (69) which was has been demonstrated to develop in anticipated manner (31-36, 45, 46). Therefore, less connectivity between superior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices during visual working memory in FHP youth may not have the same implications as a similar pattern during spatial working memory demands. Regardless, our findings are consistent with these in that a familial history of AUD moderated functional connectivity.
