title: Family history of alcoholism interacts with alcohol to affect brain regions involved in behavioral inhibition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Impulsive behavior is associated with both alcohol use disorders and a family history of alcoholism (FHA). One operational definition of impulsive behavior is the stop-signal task (SST) which measures the time needed to stop a ballistic hand movement.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Employ functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study right frontal responses to stop signals in heavy drinking subjects with and without FHA, and as a function of alcohol exposure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two family history-positive (FHP; age = 22.7 years, SD = 1.9) and 18 family history-negative (FHN; age = 23.7, SD = 1.8) subjects performed the SST in fMRI in two randomized visits: once during intravenous infusion of alcohol, clamped at a steady-state breath alcohol (BrAC) concentration of 60 mg/dL, and once during infusion of placebo saline. An independent reference group (n = 13, age = 23.7, SD = 1.8) was used to identify a priori right prefrontal regions activated by successful inhibition (Inh) trials, relative to "Go" trials that carried no need for inhibition [Inh > Go].
  
  
  RESULTS
  FHA interacted with alcohol exposure in right prefrontal cortex, where alcohol reduced [Inh > Go] activation in FHN subjects but not in FHP subjects. Within this right frontal cortical region, stop-signal reaction time also correlated negatively with [Inh > Go] activation, suggesting that the [Inh > Go] activity was related to inhibitory behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results are consistent with the low level of response theory (Schuckit, J Stud Alcohol 55:149-158, 1980; Quinn and Fromme, Alcohol Clin Exp Res 35:1759-1770, 2011), with FHP being less sensitive to alcohol's effects.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology Section (GH 4700), Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, 355 W. 16th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. dkareken@iupui.edu
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kareken
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dzemidzic
authors.forename: Leah
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wetherill
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Eiler
authors.forename: Brandon G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Oberlin
authors.forename: Jaroslaw
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harezlak
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sean J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: O'Connor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001944:Breath Tests; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol