title: Reduced cerebellar brain activity during reward processing in adolescent binge drinkers.
abstract: Due to ongoing development, adolescence may be a period of heightened vulnerability to the neurotoxic effects of alcohol. Binge drinking may alter reward-driven behavior and neurocircuitry, thereby increasing risk for escalating alcohol use. Therefore, we compared reward processing in adolescents with and without a history of recent binge drinking. At their baseline study visit, all participants (age=14.86 ± 0.88) were free of heavy alcohol use and completed a modified version of the Wheel of Fortune (WOF) functional magnetic resonance imaging task. Following this visit, 17 youth reported binge drinking on ≥3 occasions within a 90 day period and were matched to 17 youth who remained alcohol and substance-naïve. All participants repeated the WOF task during a second visit (age=16.83 ± 1.22). No significant effects were found in a region of interest analysis of the ventral striatum, but whole-brain analyses showed significant group differences in reward response at the second study visit in the left cerebellum, controlling for baseline visit brain activity (p/α<0.05), which was negatively correlated with mean number of drinks consumed/drinking day in the last 90 days. These findings suggest that binge drinking during adolescence may alter brain activity during reward processing in a dose-dependent manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cservenka
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States; Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States. Electronic address: nagelb@ohsu.edu.
authors.forename: Bonnie J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Nagel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D059906:Neuroimaging; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D012201:Reward; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D066328:Ventral Striatum / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Adolescence; Alcohol; Binge; Cerebellum; Reward