Executive control deficit is a crucial characteristic of AUD [41]. Despite being aware of the negative physical, psychological, occupational, or social consequences of continued alcohol use, AUD individuals are unable to reduce or inhibit alcohol consumption [41, 42]. An emerging view considers impaired executive control as both a determinant and a consequence of addictive behaviors [43]. Brain regions implicated in executive control include the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, dACC, and pre-SMA [44–48]. In our study, one of the most consistent findings with previous research is that the most informative brain region for classification and prediction includes the dACC and pre-SMA. We also observed decreased intrinsic effective self-connections of the left pre-SMA. These findings suggest that individuals with AUD exhibit significant impairment of executive control, and the degree of executive control impairment worsens with the increase of the severity of the addiction.
