Overall, group differences in MD were not found between AU and non-AU youth (Cardenas et al., 2013; Jacobus et al., 2009; Luciana et al., 2013; Thayer et al., 2013). This pattern was also reported in the single longitudinal study reviewed, whereby AU youth had less FA gains than non-AU youth across the 2-year follow-up in the caudate/thalamus and right inferior frontal occipital fasciculus (Luciana et al., 2013). Additionally, as with the structural MRI studies, an inverse pattern was found between alcohol consumption (quantity of alcohol, hangover symptoms, BAC) and WM integrity across some studies (lower FA in the body of the corpus callosum, internal and right external capsules, anterior/posterior corona radiata, cerebellar peduncle; McQueeny et al., 2009), but not others (e.g., Cardenas et al., 2013).
