Functional and structural connectivity of the executive control network in college binge drinkers. (December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sousa, Sónia S.; Sampaio, Adriana; Marques, Paulo; López-Caneda, Eduardo; Gonçalves, Óscar F.; Crego, Alberto
• Is Part Of: Addictive behaviors. Volume 99(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-12
• Subjects: Binge drinking -- Executive control network -- Resting-state fMRI -- DTI -- College-students; Substance abuse -- Periodicals; Alcoholism -- Periodicals; Drug addiction -- Periodicals; Nicotine addiction -- Periodicals; Smoking -- Periodicals; Gambling -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 362.29
• DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.05.033
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4603

Abstract

Abstract: Binge Drinking (BD) is a pattern of excessive alcohol consumption highly prevalent among college students, and has been associated with structural and functional alterations of brain networks. Recent advances in the resting-state connectivity analysis have boosted the research of the network-level connectivity disturbances associated with many psychiatric and neurological disorders, including addiction. Accordingly, atypical functional connectivity patterns in resting-state networks such as the Executive Control Network (ECN) have been found in substance users and alcohol-dependent individuals. In this study, we assessed for the first time the ECN functional and structural connectivity in a group of 34 college students, 20 (10 women) binge drinkers (BDs) in comparison with a group of 14 (8 women) alcohol abstinent controls (AACs). Overall, our findings documented increased resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in the BDs left middle frontal cortex of the left ECN in comparison to the AACs, while no structural connectivity differences were observed between groups. Pearson correlations revealed a positive association between the left middle frontal gyrus rsFC and the frequency of BD episodes per month, in the BD group. These findings suggest that maintaining a pattern of acute and intermittent alcohol consumption during important stages of brain development, as the transition from adolescence to adulthood, is associated with impaired ECN rsFC despite no group differences being yet noticed in the ECN structural connectivity. Highlights: Increased rsFC in the LECN middle frontal gyrus of college BDs. No between group's differences were observed in the RECN. ECN structural connectivity analysis revealed no between group's differences. LECN rsFC was positively associated to the frequency of BD episodes. Intermittent acute alcohol consumption during youth may disrupt rsFC of the LECN.