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酗酒的关键特征。酒精使用障碍（AUD）也与情绪处理异常有关，许多研究报告称，杏仁核参与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。描述自愿认知控制（被认为是需要分配注意力资源的显性或“自上而下”过程）和情绪反应（被认为是隐性或“自下而上”过程）之间的相互作用是理解酒精滥用行为调节和情感动机行为的基础。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，但可以通过提供情感负载刺激进行实验研究。我们最近的行为研究表明，慢性酗酒者自下而上的冗余感觉信息处理受到干扰，自上而下的冲突解决控制受到损害，为提出的研究奠定了基础。本项目的主要目标是通过使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）、常规MRI和弥散张量成像（DTI）等非侵入性的活体方法来研究大脑的功能、宏观结构和微观结构，确定酒精中毒中情绪和认知的隐性自下而上影响和自上而下调节的神经相关性。本提案的具体目的是：(1)确定慢性酗酒者在注意-情绪调节的组成过程中与对照组有何不同，(2)用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）确定酒精中毒中注意-情绪系统的神经相关性，(3)确定酒精中毒对区域脑微结构状态（DTI）、脑功能网络（fMRI）、灰质病灶（MRI）和表现测量之间关系的影响。我们提出了一系列关于注意-情绪处理的行为、结构和功能MRI研究，以检查酗酒者选择性地破坏或保留情绪刺激的自动自下而上和注意自上而下控制处理的程度。识别注意力和情绪神经系统破坏的来源应该导致对行为的内隐和外显控制的影响的理解，并对开发干预措施以改善AUD患者的认知行为治疗具有重要意义。

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.