This study used an alcohol taste cues task previously found to activate both ventral and dorsal striatal regions in heavy drinkers (Filbey et al., 2008a; Filbey et al., 2008b). Whole-brain analyses of the alcohol versus water contrast revealed greater activation of the insula, orbitofrontal cortex, precuneus, and bilateral supramarginal gyrus (SMG; BA40) among G-allele carriers, compared to A-allele homozygotes. These results differ from those of Filbey et al. (2008b) who used the same task in a sample of heavy drinkers. Filbey and colleagues (2008b) found greater activation of multiple mesocorticolimbic areas among G-allele carriers in the alcohol versus control contrast, whereas in the present study, only a few areas of activation differentiated the two genotype groups. These differences may be the result of comparing cue-reactivity in heavy drinkers versus alcohol dependent individuals. As noted above, differences in the neural correlates of cue-reactivity have been reported as a function of alcohol use (Vollstadt-Klein et al., 2010). Conversely, the different pattern of mesolimbic activation found in previous studies by Filbey et al. (2008a, b) may reflect differences in statistical power as well
