BRAIN IMAGING ALCOHOL ABUSE, INHIBITION AND SEXUAL RISK BEHAVIOR IN BLACK WOMEN

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中的一个 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源。子项目和 研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金， 因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为 研究中心，而研究中心不一定是研究者所在的机构。 博士帕克斯建议使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）来调查年轻的非洲裔美国妇女的决策能力，这些妇女的性行为和饮酒行为使她们面临感染人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）的风险。 临床前成像研究表明，多巴胺能（DA）脑中心激活成瘾患者暴露于视觉线索与他们的滥用物质。 这些皮层和边缘系统中心也可能介导与成瘾相关的奖赏寻求和饱腹感，例如，酒精依赖个体的过程被破坏。 Parks博士对慢性酒精依赖患者的初步fMRI数据表明，他们很难在认知上抑制与任务无关的刺激，并且在这个决策任务中激活的区域涉及与酒精相关刺激相关的大脑区域重叠。 流行病学上，年轻的非洲裔美国妇女代表了临床健康差异，因为她们表现出酒精使用障碍（AUD）的症状和体征的频率高于性别和种族多样化的同龄人。 此外，同一人群通过无保护的性交感染艾滋病毒的风险也显着增加。 虽然在文献中没有研究已经证明的心理病理生理基础的差异，一个潜在的解释可能是，这些人表现出不良的决策技能时，面对不相关的刺激，破坏认知歧视。 虽然DA相关的途径，药物滥用可能会刺激冲动，从事持续的酒精使用以及危险的性行为，因为两者的生理奖励途径可能是相似的。 此外，由冲动引起的刺激也可能引发大脑运动中心的病理行为。 Parks博士的假设是，年轻的、有风险的AUD非洲裔美国女性，如果承认有过性冒险史，在需要认知抑制时，会表现出糟糕的决策能力，而在这些任务中，fMRI会显示DA脑区的激活相对增加，因为这些区域驱动着寻求奖励和满足奖励。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Dr. Parks proposes to use functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) to investigate decision-making ability of young African American women in whom sexual and alcohol use behaviors put them at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition. Preclinical imaging studies have demonstrated that dopaminergic (DA) brain centers activate in addicted patients upon exposure to visual cues associated with their substances of abuse. These cortical and limbic centers may also mediate reward-seeking and satiety associated with addiction, processes that are disrupted in alcohol-dependent individuals, for example. Dr. Parks's preliminary fMRI data in chronic alcohol-dependent patients demonstrates their difficulty in cognitively inhibiting task-irrelevant stimuli, and activated areas in this decision-making task implicate brain regions overlapping with those involved with cued exposure to alcohol-related stimuli. Epidemiologically, young African-American women represent a clinical health disparity as they exhibit alcohol use disorder (AUD) signs and symptoms at a greater frequency than their gender- and ethnic-diverse peers. As well, this same demographic also displays markedly increased risk for HIV acquisition through unprotected sexual intercourse. Though no studies in the literature have demonstrated the psycho-pathophysiologic bases for either disparity, one potential explanation for both may be that these individuals exhibit poor decision-making skills when confronted with irrelevant stimuli that disrupt cognitive discrimination. Though DA-related pathways, substance abuse may stimulate the urge to engage in continued alcohol use as well as risky sexuality because the physiological reward pathways for both are probably similar. Further, stimulation caused by urges might also prime motor activity brain centers to initiate pathological behavior. Dr. Parks' hypothesis is that young, at-risk AUD African-American women who admit to histories of sexual risk taking will demonstrate poor decision-making when cognitive inhibition is required, and fMRI during these tasks will demonstrate relatively increased activation in DA brain regions because these areas drive both reward-seeking and reward-satiation.