This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (104)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Public Health  • Substance Abuse/ Alcoholism  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Mark S. George, MD; Raymond F. Anton, MD; Courtnay Bloomer, BA; Charlotte Teneback, BS; David J. Drobes, PhD; Jeffrey P. Lorberbaum, MD; Ziad Nahas, MD; Diana J. Vincent, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001;58:345-352.

Background  Functional imaging studies have recently demonstrated that specific brain regions become active in cocaine addicts when they are exposed to cocaine stimuli. To test whether there are regional brain activity differences during alcohol cue exposure between alcoholic subjects and social drinkers, we designed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) protocol involving alcohol-specific cues.

Methods  Ten non–treatment-seeking adult alcoholic subjects (2 women) (mean [SD] age, 29.9 [9.9] years) as well as 10 healthy social drinking controls of similar age (2 women) (mean [SD] age, 29.4 [8.9] years) were recruited, screened, and scanned. In the 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner, subjects were serially rated for alcohol craving before and after a sip of alcohol, and after a 9-minute randomized presentation of pictures of alcoholic beverages, control nonalcoholic beverages, and 2 different visual control tasks. During picture presentation, changes in regional brain activity were measured with the blood oxygen level–dependent technique.

Results  Alcoholic subjects, compared with the social drinking subjects, reported higher overall craving ratings for alcohol. After a sip of alcohol, while viewing alcohol cues compared with viewing other beverage cues, only the alcoholic subjects had increased activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior thalamus. The social drinkers exhibited specific activation only while viewing the control beverage pictures.

Conclusions  When exposed to alcohol cues, alcoholic subjects have increased brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and anterior thalamus—brain regions associated with emotion regulation, attention, and appetitive behavior.

From the Departments of Radiology (Drs George and Vincent), Psychiatry (Drs George, Anton, Drobes, Lorberbaum, and Nahas and Mss Bloomer and Teneback), and Neurology (Dr George), Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston; and the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Hospital, Charleston, SC (Dr George).

Corresponding author and reprints: Mark S. George, MD, Radiology Department, Medical University of South Carolina, 171 Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC 29425 (e-mail: georgem{at}musc.edu).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Brain imaging studies of appetite in the context of obesity and the menstrual cycle
Van Vugt
Hum Reprod Update 2009;0:dmp051v1-dmp051.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Avoidance of Alcohol-Related Stimuli Increases During the Early Stage of Abstinence in Alcohol-Dependent Patients
Vollstadt-Klein et al.
Alcohol Alcohol 2009;44:458-463.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Marijuana craving in the brain
Filbey et al.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2009;106:13016-13021.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Alcoholism: A Systems Approach From Molecular Physiology to Addictive Behavior
Spanagel
Physiol. Rev. 2009;89:649-705.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effect of Naltrexone and Ondansetron on Alcohol Cue-Induced Activation of the Ventral Striatum in Alcohol-Dependent People
Myrick et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65:466-475.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Glutamate Release in the Nucleus Accumbens Core Is Necessary for Heroin Seeking
LaLumiere and Kalivas
J. Neurosci. 2008;28:3170-3177.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Neurobiology and Treatment in Alcoholism--Recent Findings Regarding Lesch's Typology of Alcohol Dependence
Hillemacher and Bleich
Alcohol Alcohol 2008;0:agn016v1-agn016.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Brain substrates of craving to alcohol cues in subjects with alcohol use disorder
Park et al.
Alcohol Alcohol 2007;42:417-422.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A widespread distinct pattern of cerebral atrophy in patients with alcohol addiction revealed by voxel-based morphometry
Mechtcheriakov et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2007;78:610-614.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cognitive processing of drug-related stimuli: the role of memory and attention
Weinstein and Cox
J Psychopharmacol 2006;20:850-859.
ABSTRACT  

Substance use disorders and the orbitofrontal cortex: Systematic review of behavioural decision-making and neuroimaging studies
Dom et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2005;187:209-220.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Correlation Between Dopamine D2 Receptors in the Ventral Striatum and Central Processing of Alcohol Cues and Craving
Heinz et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2004;161:1783-1789.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Mood Disturbances and Regional Cerebral Metabolic Abnormalities in Recently Abstinent Methamphetamine Abusers
London et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004;61:73-84.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Neural Response to Alcohol Stimuli in Adolescents With Alcohol Use Disorder
Tapert et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60:727-735.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Substance-Related Disorders
Mack and Frances
Focus 2003;1:125-146.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Addiction: Imaging in clinical neuroscience
Lingford-Hughes et al.
Br Med Bull 2003;65:209-222.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Brain Metabolic Changes During Cigarette Craving
Brody et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59:1162-1172.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Additive Effect of Stress and Drug Cues on Reinstatement of Ethanol Seeking: Exacerbation by History of Dependence and Role of Concurrent Activation of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor and Opioid Mechanisms
Liu and Weiss
J. Neurosci. 2002;22:7856-7861.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT