AUD patients (n=20, 44.35±9.89 years, age range = 28 to 64 years, sober for 19.55±12.61 days) were recruited from residential treatment centers around the San Francisco Bay Area. Demographically-matched healthy controls (Ctrl, n=15, 46.13±8.84 years, age range = 30 to 62 years) were recruited through community fliers (Table 1). All participants provided written, informed consent to participate in this study, approved by the Institutional Review Boards of Stanford University and SRI International. Participants underwent a thorough psychiatric interview by a trained research psychologist using the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) IV-TR to diagnose alcohol dependence and to exclude other diagnoses or medical conditions before study entry that can affect brain functioning (e.g., diabetes, head injury, epilepsy, uncontrolled hypertension, radiation, chemotherapy, HIV infection) or preclude MR study (e.g., pacemakers).
