Neural Correlates of Implicit Processes of Attention & Emotion in Alcoholism

描述（由申请人提供）：长期以来，抑制控制功能受损和持续目标导向行为的缺陷被认为是酒精中毒的主要特征。酒精使用障碍（AUD）也与情绪处理异常有关，许多研究报告称，参与杏仁核的选择性大脑系统在体验负面情绪和促进酒精摄入的倾向中起着至关重要的作用。自愿认知控制（被认为是一个明确的或“自上而下”的过程，需要分配注意力资源）和情绪反应（被认为是一个隐含的或“自下而上”的过程）之间的相互作用的描绘是理解行为调节和情绪动机的行动对酒精滥用的基础。过度饮酒在多大程度上导致认知控制缺陷或增强自动反应尚不清楚，但可以通过实验询问情感负载刺激的呈现。我们最近的行为研究表明，在慢性酗酒者中，冗余感觉信息的自下而上的处理受到干扰，冲突解决的自上而下的控制受到损害，并为拟议的研究奠定了基础。该项目的主要目标是通过使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI），常规MRI和扩散张量成像（DTI），非侵入性的，在体内研究大脑的功能，宏观结构和微观结构架构的方法，来识别酒精中毒的情绪和认知的内隐自下而上的影响和自上而下的调节的神经相关性。本研究的具体目标是：（1）确定慢性酒精中毒者与对照者在注意力-情绪调节的组成过程中有何不同;（2）利用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）识别酒精中毒者注意力-情绪系统的神经相关性;（3）确定酒精中毒对局部微结构脑状态（DTI）、功能性脑网络（fMRI）、灰质病灶（MRI）、和业绩衡量标准。我们提出了一系列的行为，结构和功能磁共振成像研究的注意力-情绪处理，以检查在何种程度上，酗酒者有选择性地破坏或保留自动自下而上和注意力自上而下的控制处理的情绪刺激。对注意力和情绪神经系统中断的来源的识别，应有助于理解行为的内隐和外显控制的影响，并对开发干预措施以改善AUD患者的认知行为疗法具有意义。 公共卫生相关性：酗酒者，即使在戒酒时，也常常不得不施加自愿控制来抑制饮酒的冲动。这项提议的目的是利用大脑成像来了解饮酒驱动力及其控制的神经基础，这反过来可能导致保持清醒和预防复发的治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Deficits in impaired inhibitory control functions and in sustained goal-directed behavior have long been identified as key features of alcoholism. Alcohol-use disorders (AUD) are also associated with abnormalities in emotional processing, with a number of studies reporting that selective brain systems that engage the amygdala play a crucial role in a tendency to experience negative emotion and in promoting alcohol intake. Delineation of the interplay between voluntary cognitive control (conceived as an explicit or "top-down" process that require allocation of attentional resources) and emotional responsiveness (conceived as an implicit or "bottom-up" process) is fundamental for understanding behavioral regulation and emotionally motivated actions towards alcohol misuse. The extent to which excessive alcohol use contributes to deficits in cognitive control or to enhanced automatic responsiveness is unknown but can be interrogated experimentally by presentation of affectively laden stimuli. Our recent behavioral studies indicate both disturbed bottom-up processing of redundant sensory information and impaired top-down control of conflict resolution in chronic alcoholics, and lay the foundation for the proposed studies. The primary goal of this project is to identify the neural correlates of implicit bottom-up influences and top-down regulation of emotion and cognition in alcoholism through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), conventional MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), noninvasive, in vivo methods for studying the functional, macrostructural, and microstructural architecture of the brain. The specific aims of this proposal are to (1) determine how chronic alcoholics differ from controls in component processes of attention-emotion regulation, (2) identify the neural correlates of attention-emotion systems in alcoholism with fMRI, and (3) determine the effects of alcoholism on relationships among regional microstructural brain status (DTI), functional brain networks (fMRI), gray matter foci (MRI), and performance measures. We propose a series of behavioral, structural, and functional MRI studies of attention-emotion processing to examine the extent to which alcoholics have selectively disrupted or preserved automatic bottom-up and attentional top-down control processing of emotional stimuli. The identification of sources of disruption of neural systems of attention and emotion should lead to an understanding of the impact of implicit and explicit control of behavior and has implications for developing interventions for improving cognitive behavioral therapies in individuals with AUD. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Alcoholics, even when abstinent, often have to exert voluntary control to suppress the urge to drink. The purpose of this proposal is to use brain imaging to understand the neural basis of the drive to alcoholic drinking and its control, which in turn may lead to treatments for maintaining sobriety and preventing relapse.