Background Heavy drinkers show altered functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) response to alcohol cues. Little is known about alcohol cue reactivity among college age drinkers, who show the greatest rates of alcohol use disorders. Family history of alcoholism (FHP) is a risk factor for problematic drinking, but the impact on alcohol cue reactivity is unclear. We investigated the influence of heavy drinking and family history of alcoholism on alcohol cue-related fMRI response among college students. Method Participants were 19 family history negative (FHN) light drinkers, 11 FHP light drinkers, 25 FHN heavy drinkers, and 10 FHP heavy drinkers, ages 18–21. During fMRI scanning, participants viewed alcohol images, non-alcohol beverage images, and degraded control images, with each beverage image presented twice. We characterized blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) contrast for alcohol vs. non-alcohol images, and examined BOLD response to repeated alcohol images to understand exposure effects. Results Heavy drinkers exhibited greater BOLD response than light drinkers in posterior visual association regions, anterior cingulate, medial frontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and dorsal striatum, and hyperactivation to repeated alcohol images in temporo-parietal, frontal, and insular regions (clusters > 8127 μl, p < .05). FHP individuals showed increased activation to repeated alcohol images in temporo-parietal regions, fusiform and hippocampus. There were no interactions between family history and drinking group. Conclusions Our results parallel findings of hyperactivation to alcohol cues among heavy drinkers in regions subserving visual attention, memory, motivation, and habit. Heavy drinkers demonstrated heightened activation to repeated alcohol images, which could influence continued drinking. Family history of alcoholism was associated with greater response to repeated alcohol images in regions underlying visual attention, recognition, and encoding, which could suggest aspects of alcohol cue reactivity that are independent of personal drinking. Heavy drinking and family history of alcoholism may have differential impacts on neural circuitry involved in cue reactivity.

Background and Aims Young adults show the highest rates of escalating drinking, yet the neural risk mechanisms remain unclear. Heavy drinkers show variant functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response to alcohol cues, which may presage increasing drinking. In this longitudinal study, we ascertained whether BOLD response to alcohol pictures predicted subsequent heavy drinking among college students. Methods Participants were forty-three 18- to 21-year-olds in the United States who underwent BOLD scanning and completed monthly substance use surveys over the following year. Participants were categorized according to baseline and follow-up drinking into 13 continuously moderate drinkers, 16 continuously heavy drinkers, and 14 transitioners who drank moderately at baseline but heavily by follow-up. During fMRI scanning at baseline, participants viewed alcohol and matched non-alcohol beverage images. Results We observed group differences in alcohol cue-elicited BOLD response in bilateral caudate, orbitofrontal cortex, medial frontal cortex/anterior cingulate and left insula (clusters>2619ml, voxel-wise F(2,40)>3.23, p<.05, whole-brain corrected p<.05), where transitioners hyperactivated compared with moderate and heavy drinkers (all Tukey p<.05). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a single brain network differentiating those who subsequently increased drinking. Exploratory regressions showed that, compared with other risk factors (e.g., alcoholism family history, impulsivity), BOLD response best predicted escalating drinking amount and alcohol-related problems. Conclusions Neural response to pictures of alcohol is substantially enhanced among United States college students who subsequently escalate drinking. Greater cue-reactivity is associated with larger increases in drinking and alcohol-related problems, regardless of other baseline factors. Thus, neural cue-reactivity could uniquely facilitate identifying individuals at greatest risk for future problematic drinking.

The anterior cingulate and a collection of other prefrontal and parietal brain regions are implicated in error processing and cognitive control. The effects of different doses of alcohol on activity within these brain regions during an fMRI task where errors are frequently committed have not been fully explored. This study examined the impact of a placebo [Breath Alcohol Concentration (BrAC) = 0.00%], moderate (BrAC = 0.05%) and high (BrAC = 0.10%) doses of alcohol on brain hemodynamic activity during a functional MRI (fMRI) Go/No-Go task in thirty-eight healthy volunteers. Alcohol increased reaction time and false alarm errors in a dose-dependent manner. FMRI analyses showed alcohol decreased activity in anterior cingulate, lateral prefrontal cortex, insula and parietal lobe regions during false alarm responses to No-Go stimuli. These findings indicate that brain regions implicated in error processing are affected by alcohol and might provide a neural basis for alcohol's effects on behavioral performance.