Diminished cortical response to risk and loss during risky decision making in alcohol use disorder. (1st January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Burnette, Elizabeth M.; Grodin, Erica N.; Ghahremani, Dara G.; Galván, Adriana; Kohno, Milky; Ray, Lara A.; London, Edythe D.
• Is Part Of: Drug and alcohol dependence. Volume 218(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-01-01
• Subjects: Risk-taking -- BART -- Alcohol use disorder -- fMRI -- Prefrontal cortex; Drug abuse -- Periodicals; Alcoholism -- Periodicals; 616.86
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108391
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0376-8716

Abstract

Highlights: Studied dorsolateral prefrontal (rDLPFC) and insula activity in risk-taking task. Risk affects rDLPFC activity less in alcohol-dependent vs. control subjects. Insula is less sensitive to loss in alcohol-dependent vs. control subjects. Abstract: Background: Risky decision-making is an important facet of addiction. Individuals with alcohol dependence show abnormalities in gambling and other risk-taking tasks. In one such measure, the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), participants sequentially choose to pump a virtual balloon to increase potential reward while the risk of explosion increases, or to cash-out and take earnings. In a prior study, alcohol-dependent participants differed from controls in brain activation during decision-making on the BART, but the relationship between risk/reward magnitude and brain activation was not studied, nor were participants compared to controls. Here we compared the degree to which risk and magnitude of reward influenced brain activation in alcohol-dependent participants vs. controls during decision-making on the BART. Methods: Thirty-two participants (16 alcohol-dependent, 16 control; 5 females/group) performed the BART during fMRI. A parametric analysis tested for a relationship between risk/reward magnitude and activation in rDLPFC and bilateral striatum regions of interest when participants chose to take risk or to cash out. An exploratory whole-brain voxel-wise analysis of mean activation during pumping, cash-out, and explosion events was also conducted. Results: Compared with controls, alcohol-dependent participants displayed less modulation of activation in the rDLPFC when taking risk. Exploratory analyses found that alcohol-dependent participants showed less activation than controls during explosions in a cluster including the insula. No differences were seen in striatal activation. Conclusions: Insensitivity of the rDLPFC to risk and of the insula to loss may contribute to decision-making deficits in alcohol dependence.