Other functional studies have not shown significant SG differences in cortical or subcortical activation in response to alcohol-related cues or cognitive tasks in non-dependent drinkers and in those with AUD (Garbusow et al., 2016; Zehra et al., 2019; Zhu et al., 2015). For example, a recent study found no SG differences in BOLD signal in the NAcc during a Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) task in detoxified individuals with alcohol dependence (Garbusow et al., 2016). The sample of women was significantly smaller than men, so this may have limited their ability to detect an effect of SG. Future studies need to replicate results and include sufficient numbers of women for adequate analysis of SG within the NAcc, as it is a key region associated with the reinforcing properties of alcohol and other substances of abuse.
