Brain Networks and Adolescent Alcohol Use

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Sarah W. Yip - , Yale University (Author)
  • Sarah D. Lichenstein - , Yale University (Author)
  • Qinghao Liang - , Yale University (Author)
  • Bader Chaarani - , University of Vermont (Author)
  • Alecia Dager - , Yale University (Author)
  • Godfrey Pearlson - , Yale University (Author)
  • Tobias Banaschewski - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Arun L.W. Bokde - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Sylvane Desrivières - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Herta Flor - , Heidelberg University , University of Mannheim (Author)
  • Antoine Grigis - , University of Mannheim (Author)
  • Penny Gowland - , University of Nottingham (Author)
  • Andreas Heinz - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Rüdiger Brühl - , Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Author)
  • Jean Luc Martinot - , École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Marie Laure Paillère Martinot - , École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Université (Author)
  • Eric Artiges - , École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, EPS Barthélémy Durand (Author)
  • Frauke Nees - , Heidelberg University , Kiel University (Author)
  • Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos - , Université Paris-Saclay (Author)
  • Tomáš Paus - , University of Montreal, University of Toronto (Author)
  • Luise Poustka - , University of Göttingen (Author)
  • Sarah Hohmann - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Sabina Millenet - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Juliane H. Fröhner - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Michael N. Smolka - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Nilakshi Vaidya - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Author)
  • Henrik Walter - , Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Author)
  • Robert Whelan - , Trinity College Dublin (Author)
  • Gunter Schumann - , Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Fudan University (Author)
  • Hugh Garavan - , University of Vermont (Author)

Abstract

Importance: Alcohol misuse in adolescence is a leading cause of disability and mortality in youth and is associated with higher risk for alcohol use disorder. Brain mechanisms underlying risk of alcohol misuse may inform prevention and intervention efforts. Objective: To identify neuromarkers of alcohol misuse using a data-driven approach, with specific consideration of neurodevelopmental sex differences. Design, Setting, and Participants: Longitudinal multisite functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected at ages 14 and 19 years were used to assess whole-brain patterns of functional organization associated with current and future alcohol use risk as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). Primary data were collected by the IMAGEN consortium, a European multisite study of adolescent neurodevelopment. Model generalizability was further tested using data acquired in a single-site study of college alcohol consumption conducted in the US. The primary sample was a developmental cohort of 1359 adolescents with neuroimaging, phenotyping, and alcohol use data. Model generalizability was further assessed in a separate cohort of 114 individuals. Main Outcomes and Measures: Brain-behavior model accuracy, as defined by the correspondence between model-predicted and actual AUDIT scores in held-out testing data, Bonferroni corrected across the number of models run at each time point, 2-tailed α <.008, as determined via permutation testing. Results: Among 1359 individuals in the study, the mean (SD) age was 14.42 (0.40) years, and 729 individuals (54%) were female. The data-driven, whole-brain connectivity approach identified networks associated with vulnerability for future and current AUDIT-defined alcohol use risk (primary outcome, as specified above, future: ρ, 0.22; P <.001 and present: ρ, 0.27; P <.001). Results further indicated sex divergence in the accuracies of brain-behavior models, such that female-only models consistently outperformed male-only models. Specifically, female-only models identified networks conferring vulnerability for future and current severity using data acquired during both reward and inhibitory fMRI tasks. In contrast, male-only models were successful in accurately identifying networks using data acquired during the inhibitory control - but not reward - task, indicating domain specificity of alcohol use risk networks in male adolescents only. Conclusions and Relevance: These data suggest that interventions focusing on inhibitory control processes may be effective in combating alcohol use risk in male adolescents but that both inhibitory and reward-related processes are likely of relevance to alcohol use behaviors in female adolescents. They further identify novel networks of alcohol use risk in youth, which may be used to identify adolescents who are at risk and inform intervention efforts..

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1131-1141
Number of pages11
JournalJAMA psychiatry
Volume80
Issue number11
Early online date2023
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 37647053
Mendeley 478ee6aa-18bb-3973-8679-c925e5fd27cf
ORCID /0000-0001-5398-5569/work/150329516
ORCID /0000-0002-8493-6396/work/150330243

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Adolescent, Humans, Male, Female, Alcoholism, Underage Drinking, Brain, Alcohol Drinking, Neuroimaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging