To date, most neuroimaging studies have focused on cognitive impairments in neural areas implicated in compulsivity, memory declining, and executive function impairment. These findings have suggested the frontal lobe hypothesis, wherein the prefrontal cortex, which plays a significant role in various cognitive functions, is predominantly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol (6, 7). However, the diffuse brain hypothesis states that damage caused by AUD can extend beyond the frontal lobe, extending to the areas such as the cerebellum, limbic system, and basal ganglia (8, 9). In this regard, recent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) studies have provided additional perspectives by demonstrating system-level alterations in various regions of the brain as opposed to previous studies that focused on dysfunction in a specific region related to AUD (10).
