title: Neural evidence for emotional involvement in pathological alcohol craving.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Reducing craving is a key to success in the treatment of alcohol dependence. The emotion circuit may be involved in pathological craving for alcohol. In this study, we investigated neural correlates of emotional involvement in craving in alcohol dependence.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 17 detoxified alcoholic patients and 25 social drinkers. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activation (blood oxygen level-dependent signals) while participants reported craving and emotion in response to visually presented, alcohol-related stimuli and emotional stimuli.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the craving-rating paradigm, negative emotional stimuli as well as alcohol cues activated craving-related brain regions in alcoholic patients. Activations of the inferior parietal lobule and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex by negative emotional stimuli were negatively correlated with craving; meanwhile limbic activation was positively correlated with craving. For the emotion paradigm, greater limbic activation was evident by alcohol-related stimuli in the alcohol-dependent group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings constitute neural evidence for emotional involvement in pathological craving for alcohol, underscoring the importance of emotion management in abstinent alcoholic patients for relapse prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University College of Medicine, Yonsei-ro 50, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jeonghun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ku
authors.forename: Young-Chul
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Hyeongrae
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Suk Kyoon
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Kyung Ran
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kang-Jun
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Kee
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Namkoong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000758:Anesthesia; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D004522:Educational Status; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008032:Limbic System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales