Amygdala Processes and Early Habitual Drinking

描述(申请人提供)：习惯性饮酒是酒精依赖的前驱症状。已有研究表明，在酒依赖的发病机制中，认知控制障碍是习惯性寻酒和饮酒的基础。之前的研究已经为酒精依赖患者的认知控制受损提供了充分的证据。然而，习惯饮酒的非依赖型个人是否表现出这种缺陷尚不清楚。特别是，感觉寻求和冒险与非依赖型个人习惯性饮酒的形成有关。行为研究也支持了这些人格特征与饮酒之间的联系。另一方面，人们几乎不知道与冒险相关的神经过程是否在习惯饮酒的非依赖型个人中发生了特定的改变。特别是，根据我们的知识，还没有研究在相同的非依赖人群中检验和直接比较认知控制和冒险的神经基础。目前的提案试图通过结合功能磁共振成像(FMRI)和停止信号任务作为认知代理来探索这些问题，以分离认知控制和冒险的皮质和皮质下底物。我们以前的工作强调了内侧前额叶结构在认知控制中的作用，以及杏仁核在停止信号任务中的冒险行为中的作用，从而为探索这些问题提供了一个独特的平台。通过比较习惯性饮酒的非酒精依赖型大学生和不饮酒者或轻度饮酒者，我们希望阐明习惯性饮酒背后的关键神经过程，并潜在地调节习惯性饮酒向酒精依赖的转变。 公共卫生相关性：习惯性饮酒是酒精依赖的前兆，已有研究表明，冒险在塑造非依赖型个人的习惯性饮酒方面起着关键作用。然而，关于习惯性饮酒的非依赖者的大脑过程对冒险行为的影响，人们知之甚少。目前的方案结合了脑成像技术和认知范式来回答这个问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Habitual alcohol use is prodromal to alcohol dependence. It has been suggested that impairment in cognitive control underlies habitual alcohol seeking and consumption in the pathogenesis of alcohol dependence. Previous studies have provided ample evidence for impaired cognitive control in patients with alcohol dependence. However, whether non-dependent individuals who habitually consume alcohol demonstrate such deficits are unclear. In particular, sensation seeking and risk taking has been implicated in the shaping of habitual drinking in non-dependent individuals. Behavioral studies have also supported an association between these personality traits and alcohol consumption. Little is known, on the other hand, whether neural processes associated with risk taking is specifically altered in non-dependent individuals who habitually consume alcohol. In particular, no studies to our knowledge have examined and directly compared the neural substrates of cognitive control and risk taking in the same non-dependent populations. The current proposal attempts to explore these questions by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the stop signal task as a cognitive proxy to isolate the cortical and subcortical substrates of cognitive control and risk taking. Our previous work highlighted a role of the medial prefrontal structures in cognitive control and the amygdala in risk taking during the stop signal task and thus provided a unique platform to pursue these questions. By comparing non-alcohol dependent college students who habitually consume alcohol and those who are non- or light-drinkers, we hope to elucidate the key neural processes that underlie habitual alcohol use and potentially mediate the transition of habitual drinking to alcohol dependence. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Habitual alcohol use is prodromal to alcohol dependence and it has been suggested that risk taking plays a critical role in shaping habitual drinking in non-dependent individuals. However, little is known about which brain processes contribute to risk taking in non-dependent individuals who habitually consume alcohol. The current proposal combines a brain imaging technique and a cognitive paradigm to answer this question.