Caldwell et al. (2005). A sample of 18 AU youth (defined as youth with AUDs; 7 females) and 21 non-AU youth (9 females) aged 14–17 years participated in the same experimental SWM and baseline vigilance tasks employed in Tapert et al. (2004b). Behaviourally, AU youth performed significantly faster on the SWM task as compared with non-AU youth. In the analysis of task response by group, AU youth showed increased BOLD activation during the SWM task compared with non-AU youth in certain portions of the bilateral superior frontal gyri (SFG), left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right middle frontal gyrus (MFG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), precuneus, fusiform and middle temporal gyrus. In examination of task response by group, AU youth also showed decreased activation compared with non-AU youth in other parts of the IFG, right MFG, left precentral gyrus, insula, bilateral precuneus and cerebellum. Despite equivalent performance to non-AU youth, AU youth showed a pattern of engaging task-irrelevant regions (middle and superior frontal, inferior parietal, temporal cortices). There were also gender differences such that female AU youth showed highest levels of alterations
