Global, interhemispheric and intrahemispheric functional connection patterns in male adults with alcohol use disorder

• Published in: Addiction biology Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. e13398 - n/a
• Main Authors: Wei, Yarui, Wang, Weijian, Kang, Yimeng, Niu, Xiaoyu, Zhang, Zanxia, Li, Shujian, Han, Shaoqiang, Cheng, Jingliang, Zhang, Yong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.06.2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: addiction remission; Adult; Alcohol use; alcohol use disorder; Alcoholism - diagnostic imaging; Alcoholism - physiopathology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiopathology; Brain mapping; Brain Mapping - methods; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral hemispheres; Correlation analysis; Cortex (parietal); Drug addiction; functional connectivity degree; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Gyrus Cinguli - diagnostic imaging; Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology; Humans; interhemisphere; intrahemisphere; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Neural networks; Neuroimaging; Occipital lobe; Original; Prefrontal cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology; resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging; Temporal lobe; Thalamus - diagnostic imaging; Thalamus - physiopathology; Therapeutic targets; Young Adult; alcohol use disorder; addiction remission; resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging; functional connectivity degree; interhemisphere; intrahemisphere
• ISSN: 1355-6215; 1369-1600; 1369-1600
• DOI: 10.1111/adb.13398

A growing body of evidence indicates the existence of abnormal local and long‐range functional connection patterns in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, it has yet to be established whether AUD is associated with abnormal interhemispheric and intrahemispheric functional connection patterns. In the present study, we analysed resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 55 individuals with AUD and 32 healthy nonalcohol users. For each subject, whole‐brain functional connectivity density (FCD) was decomposed into ipsilateral and contralateral parts. Correlation analysis was performed between abnormal FCD and a range of clinical measurements in the AUD group. Compared with healthy controls, the AUD group exhibited a reduced global FCD in the anterior and middle cingulate gyri, prefrontal cortex and thalamus, along with an enhanced global FCD in the temporal, parietal and occipital cortices. Abnormal interhemispheric and intrahemispheric FCD patterns were also detected in the AUD group. Furthermore, abnormal global, contralateral and ipsilateral FCD data were correlated with the mean amount of pure alcohol and the severity of alcohol addiction in the AUD group. Collectively, our findings indicate that global, interhemispheric and intrahemispheric FCD may represent a robust method to detect abnormal functional connection patterns in AUD; this may help us to identify the neural substrates and therapeutic targets of AUD. The findings of the present study indicate that global, interhemispheric and intrahemispheric FCD may represent a robust method to detect abnormal functional connection patterns in AUD, thus enhancing our understanding of the neural substrates associated with AUD. Moreover, the connection patterns of undamaged brain regions in individuals with AUD corresponded to the connection patterns of damaged brain regions in patients showing addiction remission. This justifies further investigation of the related networks as targets for therapeutic neuromodulation interventions.