Reduced connectivity in the upper alpha band in the BD group was observed mainly in the left frontal-left temporal and right central-left occipital areas, which is consistent with findings in binge drinkers (Correas et al., 2015), patients with AUDs (Herrera-Díaz et al., 2016), and heavy drinkers (De Bruin et al., 2006). It is suggested that reduced FC reflects weakened networks among areas (De Bruin et al., 2006; Coullaut-Valera et al., 2014); reduced FC of the alpha band may indicate damage to the structural connections among brain areas (Stam and Van Straaten, 2012). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies revealed white matter damage in binge drinkers (Jacobus et al., 2009; Smith et al., 2017). For example, McQueeny et al. (2009) reported that binge drinkers exhibit damaged white matter in the frontal, temporal, and parietal areas and the cerebellum. Thus, the decreased alpha connectivity observed in the BD group likely means that alcohol has detrimental effects on structural connections between the left frontal-left temporal and right central-left occipital areas.
