en
Scientific article
Open access
English

Effects of moderate alcohol levels on default mode network connectivity in heavy drinkers

Publication date2021
Abstract

Background: It is well established that even moderate levels of alcohol affect cognitive functions such as memory, self‐related information processing and response inhibition. Nevertheless, the neural mechanisms underlying these alcohol‐induced changes are still unclear, especially on the network level. The default mode network (DMN) plays an important role in memory and self‐initiated mental activities, hence studying functional interactions of the DMN may provide new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying alcohol‐related changes. Methods: We investigated resting‐state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the DMN in a cohort of 37 heavy drinkers at a breath alcohol concentration of 0.8 g/kg. Alcohol and saline were infused in a single‐blind crossover design. Results: Intra‐network connectivity analyses revealed that participants showed significantly decreased rsFC of the right hippocampus and right middle temporal gyrus under acute alcohol exposure. Moreover, follow‐up analyses revealed that these rsFC decreases were more pronounced in participants who reported stronger craving for alcohol. Exploratory inter‐network connectivity analyses of the DMN with other resting‐state networks showed no significant alcohol‐induced changes, but suffered from low statistical power. Conclusions: Our results indicate that acute alcohol exposure affects rsFC within the DMN. Functionally, this finding may be associated with impairments in memory encoding and self‐referential processes commonly observed during alcohol intoxication. Future resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies might therefore also investigate memory function and test whether DMN‐related connectivity changes are associated with alcohol‐induced impairments or craving.

Keywords
  • Acute alcohol
  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging
  • Resting‐state networks
  • Resting‐state functional connectivity
Affiliation Not a UNIGE publication
Citation (ISO format)
DEZA, Yacila et al. Effects of moderate alcohol levels on default mode network connectivity in heavy drinkers. In: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2021. doi: 10.1111/acer.14602
Main files (1)
Article (Accepted version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
ISSN of the journal0145-6008
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67downloads

Technical informations

Creation2021/03/30 11:45:00
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