Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Addiction. 2022 Dec;117(12):3049-3057. doi: 10.1111/add.16012. Epub 2022 Aug 22.
Alcohol craving is an urge to consume alcohol that commonly precedes drinking; however, craving does not lead to drinking for all people under all circumstances. The current study measured the correlation between neural reactivity and alcohol cues as a risk, and purpose in daily life as a protective factor that may influence the link between alcohol craving and the subsequent amount of consumption.
Observational study that correlated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data on neural cue reactivity and ecological momentary assessments (EMA) on purpose in life and alcohol use.
Two college campuses in the United States.
A total of 54 college students (37 women, 16 men, and 1 other) recruited via campus-based groups from January 2019 to October 2020.
Participants underwent fMRI while viewing images of alcohol; we examined activity within the ventral striatum, a key region of interest implicated in reward and craving. Participants then completed 28 days of EMA and answered questions about daily levels of purpose in life and alcohol use, including how much they craved and consumed alcohol.
A significant three-way interaction indicated that greater alcohol cue reactivity within the ventral striatum was associated with heavier alcohol use following craving in daily life only when people were previously feeling a lower than usual sense of purpose. By contrast, individuals with heightened neural alcohol cue reactivity drank less in response to craving if they were feeling a stronger than their usual sense of purpose in the preceding moments (b = -0.086, P < 0.001, 95% CI = -0.137, -0.035).
Neural sensitivity to alcohol cues within the ventral striatum appears to be a potential risk for increased alcohol use in social drinkers, when people feel less purposeful. Enhancing daily levels of purpose in life may promote alcohol moderation among social drinkers who show relatively higher reactivity to alcohol cues.
饮酒欲望是一种饮酒的强烈愿望，通常先于饮酒行为；然而，并非所有情况下所有人的饮酒欲望都会导致饮酒。本研究旨在测量神经反应性与酒精线索作为风险因素之间的相关性，以及生活目的作为保护因素与饮酒欲望和随后饮酒量之间的联系。
观察性研究，将功能磁共振成像（fMRI）数据与神经线索反应性以及生活目的和酒精使用的生态瞬时评估（EMA）相关联。
美国的两个大学校园。
总共招募了 54 名大学生（37 名女性，16 名男性，1 名其他性别），他们通过校园团体从 2019 年 1 月至 2020 年 10 月参加了研究。
参与者在观看酒精图像时接受 fMRI 检查；我们检查了腹侧纹状体的活动，腹侧纹状体是与奖励和渴望相关的关键感兴趣区域。参与者随后完成了 28 天的 EMA，并回答了关于日常生活目的和酒精使用的问题，包括他们的渴望程度和饮酒量。
显著的三因素交互作用表明，在日常生活中对酒精线索的反应越强，与饮酒欲望相关的饮酒量越大，仅当人们之前感到的目的感低于平时。相比之下，如果个体在前一刻感到比平时更强烈的目的感，那么他们对酒精线索的神经反应性越强，对饮酒欲望的反应就越少（b= -0.086，P<0.001，95%置信区间= -0.137，-0.035）。
腹侧纹状体对酒精线索的神经敏感性似乎是社交饮酒者在感到目的性较低时增加饮酒量的潜在风险。在对酒精线索反应性较高的社交饮酒者中，提高日常生活目的感可能有助于适度饮酒。
