Brain response in heavy drinkers during cross-commodity alcohol and money discounting with potentially real rewards: A preliminary study

Elizabeth A Lungwitz; Mario Dzemidzic; Yitong I Shen; Martin H Plawecki; Brandon G Oberlin

doi:10.1016/j.dadr.2023.100175

Brain response in heavy drinkers during cross-commodity alcohol and money discounting with potentially real rewards: A preliminary study

Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2023 Jul 6:8:100175. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2023.100175. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Elizabeth A Lungwitz¹, Mario Dzemidzic^{2

3}, Yitong I Shen¹, Martin H Plawecki¹, Brandon G Oberlin^{1

2

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM); 355 W 16th St, Ste 4800; Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
² Department of Neurology, IUSM; 355 W 16th St, Ste 4600; Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
³ Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Center for Neuroimaging, IUSM; 355 W 16th St, Ste 4100; Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis; 402 N Blackford St, LD124; Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
⁵ Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, IUSM; 320 W 15th St, Ste 414; Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA.

Abstract

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with exaggerated preference for immediate rewards, a candidate endophenotype for use disorders. Addiction symptomology is often well-described by the preference for immediate intoxication over other delayed prosocial rewards. We measured brain activation in AUD-implicated regions during a cross-commodity delay discounting (CCD) task with choices for immediate alcohol and delayed money.

Methods: Heavy drinkers (n=24) experienced a brief intravenous alcohol infusion prime, regained sobriety, then chose between 'One Shot' and delayed money in an adjusting delay CCD task (sober and intoxicated); also during fMRI (sober). Participants also performed a behavioral sensation seeking task and completed self-report inventories of other risk factors. We assessed brain activation to choices representing immediate intoxication versus delayed money rewards in a priori regions of interest defined within the framework of Addictions NeuroImaging Assessment.

Results: Activation to CCD choice versus control trials activated paralimbic and ventral frontal cortical regions, including orbital and medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex, angular and superior frontal gyri. We detected no differences between immediate or delayed choices. Left medial orbitofrontal cortex activation correlated with alcohol-induced wanting for alcohol; females showed greater activation than males. Behavioral sensation seeking correlated with right nucleus accumbens task engagement.

Conclusions: Alcohol decision-making elicited activation in regions governing reward, introspection, and executive decision-making in heavy drinkers, demonstrating the utility of laboratory tasks designed to better model real-world choice. Our findings suggest that the brain processes subserving immediate and delayed choices are mostly overlapping, even with varied commodities.

Keywords: Alcoholism; Delayed reward discounting; Ethanol; Intertemporal choice; Reinforcer; Ventral striatum.

Abstract

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