Binge drinking is associated with attenuated frontal and parietal activation during successful response inhibition in fearful context. (6th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Herman, Aleksandra M.; Critchley, Hugo D.; Duka, Theodora
• Is Part Of: European journal of neuroscience. Volume 50:Number 3(2019)
• Page Start: 2297
• Page End: 2310
• Publication Date: 2018-09-06
• Subjects: alcohol -- delay discounting -- fMRI -- functional connectivity -- Stop Signal Task; Nervous system -- Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14108
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-816X

Abstract

Abstract: Binge drinking is associated with increased impulsivity and altered emotional processing. This study investigated, in a group of university students who differed in their level of binge drinking, whether the ability to inhibit a pre‐potent response and to delay gratification is disrupted in the presence of emotional context. We further tested whether functional connectivity within intrinsic resting‐state networks was associated with alcohol use. Higher incidence of binge drinking was associated with enhanced activation of the lateral occipital cortex, angular gyrus, the left frontal pole during successful response inhibition irrespective of emotional context. This observation suggests a compensatory mechanism. However, higher binge drinking attenuated frontal and parietal activation during successful response inhibition within a fearful context, indicating the selective emotional facilitation of inhibitory control. Similarly, higher binge drinking was associated with attenuated frontopolar activation when choosing a delayed reward over an immediate reward within the fearful, relative to the neutral, context. Resting‐state functional data analysis revealed that binge drinking decreased coupling between the right supramarginal gyrus and Ventral Attention Network, indicating alcohol‐associated disruption of functional connectivity within brain substrates directing attention. Together, our results suggest that binge drinking makes response inhibition more effortful, yet emotional (more arousing) contexts may mitigate this; disrupted functional connectivity between regions underlying adaptive attentional control, is a likely mechanism underlying these response inhibition effects associated with binge drinking. Abstract : Higher incidence of binge drinking (BD) was associated with compensatory activation in attentional brain areas during successful response inhibition. In fearful context, attenuated activation in more binging individuals was observed, suggesting facilitation of inhibitory control. In addition, higher BD was associated with decreased resting‐state functional connectivity within ventral attention network. We suggest that altered attentional mechanisms underlie these effects.