Cousijn Janna, Mies Gabry, Runia Nora, Derksen Maik, Willuhn Ingo, Lesscher Heidi
Neuroscience of Addiction (NofA) Lab, Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2023 Apr;47(4):668-677. doi: 10.1111/acer.15037. Epub 2023 Feb 28.
Adolescence is marked not only by rapid surges in the prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) but also by remarkable recovery rates, as most adolescent-onset AUDs naturally resolve over time. Little is known about the differential vulnerability of adolescents and adults. Therefore, this study aimed to unravel the moderating role of age by comparing neural alcohol cue-reactivity, an important AUD biomarker, between low-to-high beer-drinking adolescent (n = 50, 16 to 18 years), and adult (n = 51, 30 to 35 years) males matched on drinking severity.
Associations between beer odor-induced brain activity and AUD diagnosis, severity of alcohol use-related problems, recent alcohol use, binge-drinking frequency, and task-induced craving were investigated across and between age groups in regions of interest thought to be central in alcohol cue-reactivity: the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and striatal subregions (nucleus accumbens and caudate putamen). These analyses were complemented by exploratory whole-brain analyses.
Pre-task beer craving increased pre-to-post task in adolescents only. Individual differences in alcohol use, binge drinking, and craving did not relate to beer odor-induced activity. Although region-of-interest analyses did not reach significance, whole-brain analyses showed that adolescents with AUD, compared with adolescents without AUD and adults with AUD, had higher beer odor-induced activity in a large mesocorticolimbic cluster encompassing the right caudate, nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex, and the olfactory sulcus. Activity in the right caudate and putamen was positively associated with the severity of alcohol use-related problems in adolescents but negatively associated in adults.
These findings suggest a differential role of alcohol cue-reactivity in adolescents compared with adults with AUD and highlight the need for further studies investigating the role of age in the fundamental processes underlying the development of and recovery from of AUD.
青春期不仅以酒精使用障碍（AUDs）患病率的迅速飙升为特征，还以显著的康复率为特征，因为大多数青少年期起病的酒精使用障碍会随时间自然缓解。关于青少年和成年人的易感性差异知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在通过比较低至高啤酒饮用量的青少年男性（n = 50，16至18岁）和成年男性（n = 51，30至35岁）在饮酒严重程度上相匹配的神经酒精线索反应性（一种重要的酒精使用障碍生物标志物）来揭示年龄的调节作用。
在被认为是酒精线索反应性核心区域的感兴趣区域（内侧前额叶皮质、前扣带回皮质和纹状体亚区域（伏隔核和尾状壳核））中，研究了啤酒气味诱发的大脑活动与酒精使用障碍诊断、酒精使用相关问题的严重程度、近期饮酒情况、暴饮频率以及任务诱发的渴望之间在年龄组内和年龄组间的关联。这些分析通过探索性全脑分析得到补充。
仅在青少年中，任务前对啤酒的渴望在任务前后有所增加。酒精使用、暴饮和渴望的个体差异与啤酒气味诱发的活动无关。尽管感兴趣区域分析未达到显著水平，但全脑分析表明，与无酒精使用障碍的青少年和有酒精使用障碍的成年人相比，患有酒精使用障碍的青少年在一个包含右侧尾状核、伏隔核、眶额叶皮质和嗅沟的大的中脑边缘系统簇中具有更高的啤酒气味诱发活动。右侧尾状核和壳核的活动与青少年酒精使用相关问题的严重程度呈正相关，但与成年人呈负相关。
这些发现表明，与患有酒精使用障碍的成年人相比，酒精线索反应性在青少年中具有不同的作用，并强调需要进一步研究年龄在酒精使用障碍发生和康复的基本过程中的作用。
