This question is important because acute administration of alcohol impacts on emotion and affect along with cognitive performance, and alcohol-dependent persons are likely to evidence both impaired judgment and problems with emotional aspects of their lives [22, 54]. As predicted, LR group or LR group by placebo/alcohol condition differences were found in frontal, insula, and anterior cingulate regions. Findings were seen in both right and left regions, with a possible over-representation on the right, a result that will require additional study to evaluate further. However, there were no significant LR group or group by placebo/alcohol condition interactions in the amygdala in these non-alcoholic young subjects. Perhaps the differences from some prior studies with depressants [44] reflect dose effects, different expectations of drug effects, or different receptor effects across alcohol and benzodiazepines, speculations that will require additional studies to address.
