High versus low level of response to alcohol: evidence of differential reactivity to emotional stimuli.
- Authors
- Paulus, Martin P; Schuckit, Marc A; Tapert, Susan F; Tolentino, Neil J; Matthews, Scott C; Smith, Tom L; Trim, Ryan S; Hall, Shana A; Simmons, Alan N
- Year
- 2012
- Journal
- Biological psychiatry
- PMID
- 22608014
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.04.016
- PMCID
- PMC3433640
BACKGROUND: The low level of response (LR) or sensitivity to alcohol is genetically influenced and predicts heavy drinking and alcohol problems. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies using cognitive tasks suggest that subjects with a low-LR process cognitive information differently after placebo and alcohol than those with a high LR, but no studies have evaluated whether similar LR group differences are seen during an emotional processing task. METHODS: The fMRI data were gathered from 116 nonalcoholic subjects (60 women) after oral placebo or approximately .7 mL/kg of ethanol while performing a modified emotional faces processing task. These included 58 low- and high-LR pairs matched on demography and aspects of substance use. RESULTS: Blood alcohol levels and task performance were similar across LR groups, but low-LR subjects consumed approximately .8 drinks more/occasion. Thirteen brain regions (mostly the middle and inferior frontal gyri, cingulate, and insula) showed significant LR group or LR × placebo/alcohol condition interactions for emotional (mostly happy) faces relative to non-face trials. Low-LR subjects generally showed decreasing blood-oxygen level-dependent response contrasts across placebo to alcohol, whereas high LR showed increasing contrasts from placebo to alcohol, even after controlling for drinking quantities and alcohol-related changes in cerebral blood flow. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, LR group fMRI differences are as prominent during an emotional face task as during cognitive paradigms. Low-LR individuals processed both types of information in a manner that might contribute to an impaired ability to recognize modest levels of alcohol intoxication in a range of life situations.
Blood alcohol values (BACs) were obtained from time zero through90 minutes (closed diamonds and squares), and breath alcohol values (BrACs) were then used to monitor when subjects would be allowed to go home (open diamond and squares). The time between BAC and BrAC values is indicated by dots. Data are given for the 98 subjects who had complete BAC values during the time just prior to, during, and after the Hariri task; 30–90 minutes.
Brain regions demonstrating LR group or group by placebo/alcohol interactions in BOLD response contrast for emotional faces relative to oval shape conditions described in Table 2 and Figure 3.
Graphs, including standard deviations for eight of the 13 brain regions in Table 2 as examples of LR group differences. The asterisks at the top of the figures expand the information on statistical significance from Table 2 (all 13 are p <.01) to demonstrate the p values for LR group effects and group by condition interactions (* = p <.01; ** = p <.001).
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