scholarly journals The role of the orbitofrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens for craving in alcohol use disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Bracht ◽  
Leila Soravia ◽  
Franz Moggi ◽  
Maria Stein ◽  
Matthias Grieder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Tract Length ◽  
Reduced Volume

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate structural and functional alterations of the reward system and the neurobiology of craving in alcohol use disorder (AUD). We hypothesized reduced volume of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), reduced structural connectivity of the segment of the supero-lateral medial forebrain bundle connecting the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) with the NAcc (OFC-NAcc), and reduced resting-state OFC-NAcc functional connectivity (FC). Furthermore, we hypothesized that craving is related to an increase of OFC-NAcc FC. Thirty-nine recently abstinent patients with AUD and 18 healthy controls (HC) underwent structural (T1w-MP2RAGE, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)) and functional (resting-state fMRI) MRI-scans. Gray matter volume of the NAcc, white matter microstructure (fractional anisotropy (FA)) and macrostructure (tract length) of the OFC-NAcc connection and OFC-NAcc FC were compared between AUD and HC using a mixed model MANCOVA controlling for age and gender. Craving was assessed using the thoughts subscale of the obsessive-compulsive drinking scale (OCDS) scale and was correlated with OFC-NAcc FC. There was a significant main effect of group. Results were driven by a volume reduction of bilateral NAcc, reduced FA in the left hemisphere, and reduced tract length of bilateral OFC-NAcc connections in AUD patients. OFC-NAcc FC did not differ between groups. Craving was associated with increased bilateral OFC-NAcc FC. In conclusion, reduced volume of the NAcc and reduced FA and tract length of the OFC-NAcc network suggest structural alterations of the reward network in AUD. Increased OFC-NAcc FC is associated with craving in AUD, and may contribute to situational alcohol-seeking behavior in AUD.

scholarly journals Altered Cerebro-Cerebellar Dynamic Functional Connectivity in Alcohol Use Disorder: a Resting-State fMRI Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majd Abdallah ◽  
Natalie M. Zahr ◽  
Manojkumar Saranathan ◽  
Nicolas Honnorat ◽  
Nicolas Farrugia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Dynamic Functional Connectivity ◽  
Fmri Study

scholarly journals Increased decision latency in alcohol use disorder reflects altered resting-state synchrony in the anterior salience network

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Canessa ◽  
Gianpaolo Basso ◽  
Irene Carne ◽  
Paolo Poggi ◽  
Claudia Gianelli
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Intrinsic Activity ◽  
Salience Network ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
Decision Latency

AbstractIncreased decision latency in alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been generally explained in terms of psychomotor slowing. Recent results suggest that AUD patients’ slowed decision-making might rather reflect alterations in the neural circuitry underlying the engagement of controlled processing by salient stimuli. We addressed this hypothesis by testing a relationship between decision latency at the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT) and intrinsic brain activity in 22 individuals with AUD and 19 matched controls. CGT deliberation time was related to two complementary facets of resting-state fMRI activity, i.e. coherence and intensity, representing early biomarkers of functional changes in the intrinsic brain architecture. For both metrics, we assessed a multiple regression (to test a relationship with deliberation time in the whole sample), and an interaction analysis (to test a significantly different relationship with decision latency across groups). AUD patients’ slowed deliberation time (p < 0.025) reflected distinct facets of altered intrinsic activity in the cingulate node of the anterior salience network previously associated with the “output” motor stage of response selection. Its heightened activity in AUD patients compared with controls, tracking choice latency (p < 0.025 corrected), might represent a compensation mechanism counterbalancing the concurrent decrease of its internal coherent activity (p < 0.025 corrected). These findings provide novel insights into the intrinsic neural mechanisms underlying increased decision latency in AUD, involving decreased temporal synchronicity in networks promoting executive control by behaviourally relevant stimuli. These results pave the way to further studies assessing more subtle facets of decision-making in AUD, and their possible changes with rehabilitative treatment.

scholarly journals Sleep disturbances are associated with cortical and subcortical atrophy in alcohol use disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Dardo Tomasi ◽  
Peter Manza ◽  
Ehsan Shokri-Kojori ◽  
Sukru B. Demiral ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Sleep Disturbances ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Chronic Alcohol ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus

AbstractSleep disturbances are prominent in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and predict relapse. So far, the mechanisms underlying sleep disruptions in AUD are poorly understood. Because sleep-related regions vastly overlap with regions, where patients with AUD showed pronounced grey matter (GM) reduction; we hypothesized that GM structure could contribute to sleep disturbances associated with chronic alcohol use. We combined sleep EEG recording and high-resolution structural brain imaging to examine the GM-sleep associations in 36 AUD vs. 26 healthy controls (HC). The patterns of GM-sleep associations differed for N3 vs. REM sleep and for AUD vs. HC. For cortical thickness (CT), CT-sleep associations were significant in AUD but not in HC and were lateralized such that lower CT in right hemisphere was associated with shorter N3, whereas in left hemisphere was associated with shorter REM sleep. For the GM density (GMD), we observed a more extensive positive GMD-N3 association in AUD (right orbitofrontal cortex, cerebellum, dorsal cingulate and occipital cortex) than in HC (right orbitofrontal cortex), and the GMD-REM association was positive in AUD (midline, motor and paralimbic regions) whereas negative in HC (the left supramarginal gyrus). GM structure mediated the effect of chronic alcohol use on the duration of N3 and the age by alcohol effect on REM sleep. Our findings provide evidence that sleep disturbances in AUD were associated with GM reductions. Targeting sleep-related regions might improve sleep in AUD and enhance sleep-induced benefits in cognition and emotional regulation for recovery.

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