title: Alcohol intoxication effects on visual perception: an fMRI study.
abstract: We examined the effects of two doses of alcohol (EtOH) on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation during a visual perception task. The Motor-Free Visual Perception Test-Revised (MVPT-R) provides measures of overall visual perceptual processing ability. It incorporates different cognitive elements including visual discrimination, spatial relationships, and mental rotation. We used the MVPT-R to study brain activation patterns in healthy controls (1) sober, and (2) at two doses of alcohol intoxication with event-related fMRI. The fMRI data were analyzed using a general linear model approach based upon a model of the time course and a hemodynamic response estimate. Additionally, a correlation analysis was performed to examine dose-dependent amplitude changes. With regard to alcohol-free task-related brain activation, we replicate our previous finding in which SPM group analysis revealed robust activation in visual and visual association areas, frontal eye field (FEF)/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and the supplemental motor area (SMA). Consistent with a previous study of EtOH and visual stimulation, EtOH resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in activation amplitude over much of the visual perception network and in a decrease in the maximum contrast-to-noise ratio (in the lingual gyrus). Despite only modest behavior changes (in the expected direction), significant dose-dependent activation increases were observed in insula, DLPFC, and precentral regions, whereas dose-dependent activation decreases were observed in anterior and posterior cingulate, precuneus, and middle frontal areas. Some areas (FEF/DLPFC/SMA) became more diffusely activated (i.e., increased in spatial extent) at the higher dose. Alcohol, thus, appears to have both global and local effects upon the neural correlates of the MVPT-R task, some of which are dose dependent.
authors.affiliation: Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Institute of Living, Hartford, Connecticut 06106, USA. vince.calhoun@yale.edu
authors.forename: Vince D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Calhoun
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Altschul
authors.forename: Vince
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: McGinty
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Edie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sears
authors.forename: Godfrey D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Pearlson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol