Why We Like to Drink: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of the Rewarding and Anxiolytic Effects of Alcohol

“Participants also completed the PANAS before and after the scan.”

“Analyses were conducted using Analysis of Functional Neuroimages software (Cox, 1996).”

“The VS, particularly the NAcc, is critical in the reward system of the brain (Robinson and Berridge, 1993; Koob and Nestler, 1997; Everitt and Wolf, 2002), and lesions in this brain region decrease the rewarding effects of many drugs of abuse (Di Chiara, 2000).”

“Behind only tobacco use and obesity, alcohol use is the third most common lifestyle-related cause of death in the United States (Mokdad et al., 2004).”

“Emotional facial expressions activated higher-order visual areas related to emotion, including lingual and superior temporal gyri as well as the affective division of the anterior cingulate, as has been previously reported in studies exploring the effects of emotional stimuli on brain activation (Devinsky et al., 1995…”

“Where might alcohol recruit circuitry that regulates positive affect leading to euphoria? A critical area of interest is the ventral striatum (VS), which is recruited by reward-predictive stimuli (Knutson et al., 2001; Bjork et al., 2004).”

“Emotional facial expressions activated higher-order visual areas related to emotion, including lingual and superior temporal gyri as well as the affective division of the anterior cingulate, as has been previously reported in studies exploring the effects of emotional stimuli on brain activation (Devinsky et al., 1995…”

“This result is consistent with previous findings that recruitment of these regions is enhanced by emotionally valenced visual stimuli (Vuilleumier, 2005).”

“, 2004), and support Koob’s (1992) hypothesis that all drugs of abuse activate the striatum.”

“The amygdala in particular is critical in an attention allocation circuit that is recruited by stimuli that signal the requirement for an immediate behavioral response, such as fight or flight (LeDoux, 2003; Fitzgerald et al., 2006).”

“Similarly, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown striatal activation in response to drugs of abuse such as cocaine (Breiter et al., 1997) and nicotine (Stein et al., 1998).”

“Why We Like to Drink: A Functional Magnetic Resonance”

“…increase in BOLD signal in the striatum may result from the increased firing rate of dopaminergic neurons secondary to the disinhibitory effect mediated through GABAergic interneurons and a decrease in glutamate-related potassium currents in the ventral tegmental area (Pierce and Kumaresan, 2006).”

“Why We Like to Drink: A Functional Magnetic Resonance”

“Regressors of interest were convolved with a gamma-variate function that modeled a prototypical hemodynamic response before inclusion in the regression model (Cohen, 1997).”

“A variety of primary rewards activate this circuit, including fruit juice and water (Berns et al., 2001; O’Doherty et al., 2002; Pagnoni et al., 2002; McClure et al., 2003), as well as secondary rewards such as praise and money (for review, see Knutson and Cooper, 2005).”

“The VS, particularly the NAcc, is critical in the reward system of the brain (Robinson and Berridge, 1993; Koob and Nestler, 1997; Everitt and Wolf, 2002), and lesions in this brain region decrease the rewarding effects of many drugs of abuse (Di Chiara, 2000).”

“The VS, particularly the NAcc, is critical in the reward system of the brain (Robinson and Berridge, 1993; Koob and Nestler, 1997; Everitt and Wolf, 2002), and lesions in this brain region decrease the rewarding effects of many drugs of abuse (Di Chiara, 2000).”

“All participants reported both stimulation and sedation effects on the BAES during this session.”

“Why We Like to Drink: A Functional Magnetic Resonance”

“The VS, particularly the NAcc, is critical in the reward system of the brain (Robinson and Berridge, 1993; Koob and Nestler, 1997; Everitt and Wolf, 2002), and lesions in this brain region decrease the rewarding effects of many drugs of abuse (Di Chiara, 2000).”

“Where might alcohol recruit circuitry that regulates positive affect leading to euphoria? A critical area of interest is the ventral striatum (VS), which is recruited by reward-predictive stimuli (Knutson et al., 2001; Bjork et al., 2004).”

“Accordingly, the mesocorticolimbic reward circuit is important in the development and maintenance of addiction (Koob et al., 1998).”

“Similarly, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown striatal activation in response to drugs of abuse such as cocaine (Breiter et al., 1997) and nicotine (Stein et al., 1998).”

“A variety of primary rewards activate this circuit, including fruit juice and water (Berns et al., 2001; O’Doherty et al., 2002; Pagnoni et al., 2002; McClure et al., 2003), as well as secondary rewards such as praise and money (for review, see Knutson and Cooper, 2005).”

“The amygdala in particular is critical in an attention allocation circuit that is recruited by stimuli that signal the requirement for an immediate behavioral response, such as fight or flight (LeDoux, 2003; Fitzgerald et al., 2006).”

“A variety of primary rewards activate this circuit, including fruit juice and water (Berns et al., 2001; O’Doherty et al., 2002; Pagnoni et al., 2002; McClure et al., 2003), as well as secondary rewards such as praise and money (for review, see Knutson and Cooper, 2005).”

“A recent review of animal pharmacological MRI suggests that NAcc dopamine release increases local BOLD signal via postsynaptic D1 receptor activation (Knutson and Gibbs, 2007).”

“…depending on factors such as the point on the blood alcohol concentration vs time curve, the individual’s drinking history, and the dose of alcohol consumed (Levenson et al., 1980; Lukas et al., 1986; Turkkan et al., 1988; Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Conrod et al., 2001; King et al., 2002).”

“Consistent with human self-report, animal studies also suggest that alcohol produces a rewarding as well as an anxiolytic effect (Coop et al., 1990; Blanchard et al., 1993; Spanagel et al., 1995; Da Silva et al., 2005).”

“This method has been used successfully in several studies of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects of alcohol in humans (Kwo et al., 1998; Ramchandani et al., 1999, 2001, 2002; Blekher et al., 2002; Morzorati et al., 2002).”

“Alcohol intoxication increases the incidence of aggression and social risk taking (Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Corbin and Fromme, 2002; Giancola et al., 2002), perhaps by disrupting the amygdala-mediated differentiation between threatening and nonthreatening stimuli.”

“…depending on factors such as the point on the blood alcohol concentration vs time curve, the individual’s drinking history, and the dose of alcohol consumed (Levenson et al., 1980; Lukas et al., 1986; Turkkan et al., 1988; Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Conrod et al., 2001; King et al., 2002).”

“…handheld breathalyzer (Drager Safety Diagnostics, Irving, TX), to ensure that the BrACs were within 0.01 g% of the target and to enable minor adjustments to the infusion rates to overcome errors in parameter estimation and experimental variability (Ramchandani et al., 1999; O’Connor et al., 2000).”

“tients (Heinz et al., 2007; Salloum et al., 2007), and between”

“This method has been used successfully in several studies of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects of alcohol in humans (Kwo et al., 1998; Ramchandani et al., 1999, 2001, 2002; Blekher et al., 2002; Morzorati et al., 2002).”

“tients (Heinz et al., 2007; Salloum et al., 2007), and between”

“ism (Glahn et al., 2007), in brain regions involved in the process-”

“…depending on factors such as the point on the blood alcohol concentration vs time curve, the individual’s drinking history, and the dose of alcohol consumed (Levenson et al., 1980; Lukas et al., 1986; Turkkan et al., 1988; Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Conrod et al., 2001; King et al., 2002).”

“…depending on factors such as the point on the blood alcohol concentration vs time curve, the individual’s drinking history, and the dose of alcohol consumed (Levenson et al., 1980; Lukas et al., 1986; Turkkan et al., 1988; Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Conrod et al., 2001; King et al., 2002).”

“This method has been used successfully in several studies of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects of alcohol in humans (Kwo et al., 1998; Ramchandani et al., 1999, 2001, 2002; Blekher et al., 2002; Morzorati et al., 2002).”

“Alcohol intoxication increases the incidence of aggression and social risk taking (Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Corbin and Fromme, 2002; Giancola et al., 2002), perhaps by disrupting the amygdala-mediated differentiation between threatening and nonthreatening stimuli.”

“Although there have not yet been fMRI studies of the action of alcohol on reward circuits, positron emission tomography (PET) studies demonstrate increased striatal glucose metabolism or blood flow in response to alcohol (Wang et al., 2000; Boileau et al., 2003; Schreckenberger et al., 2004).”

“…to experimentally alter emotional states while administering alcohol or measuring alcohol intake (Gabel et al., 1980; Stritzke et al., 1996; Curtin et al., 1998; Schroder and Perrine, 2007), but these studies have not demonstrated a specific anxiolytic interaction between alcohol and…”

“Subjective response to alcohol was measured using the Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale (BAES) (Martin et al., 1993) and the modified Drug Effects Questionnaire (DEQ), (de Wit and McCracken, 1990), which were given before the beginning of the infusion and every 10 –15 min during the infusion.”

“Consistent with human self-report, animal studies also suggest that alcohol produces a rewarding as well as an anxiolytic effect (Coop et al., 1990; Blanchard et al., 1993; Spanagel et al., 1995; Da Silva et al., 2005).”

“Although there have not yet been fMRI studies of the action of alcohol on reward circuits, positron emission tomography (PET) studies demonstrate increased striatal glucose metabolism or blood flow in response to alcohol (Wang et al., 2000; Boileau et al., 2003; Schreckenberger et al., 2004).”

“This method has been used successfully in several studies of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects of alcohol in humans (Kwo et al., 1998; Ramchandani et al., 1999, 2001, 2002; Blekher et al., 2002; Morzorati et al., 2002).”

“A variety of nonimaging human studies have attempted to experimentally alter emotional states while administering alcohol or measuring alcohol intake (Gabel et al., 1980; Stritzke et al., 1996; Curtin et al., 1998; Schroder and Perrine, 2007), but these studies have not demonstrated a specific anxiolytic interaction b…”

“…depending on factors such as the point on the blood alcohol concentration vs time curve, the individual’s drinking history, and the dose of alcohol consumed (Levenson et al., 1980; Lukas et al., 1986; Turkkan et al., 1988; Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Conrod et al., 2001; King et al., 2002).”

“Consistent with human self-report, animal studies also suggest that alcohol produces a rewarding as well as an anxiolytic effect (Coop et al., 1990; Blanchard et al., 1993; Spanagel et al., 1995; Da Silva et al., 2005).”

“A variety of nonimaging human studies have attempted to experimentally alter emotional states while administering alcohol or measuring alcohol intake (Gabel et al., 1980; Stritzke et al., 1996; Curtin et al., 1998; Schroder and Perrine, 2007), but these studies have not demonstrated a specific anxiolytic interaction b…”

“Consistent with human self-report, animal studies also suggest that alcohol produces a rewarding as well as an anxiolytic effect (Coop et al., 1990; Blanchard et al., 1993; Spanagel et al., 1995; Da Silva et al., 2005).”

“This method has been used successfully in several studies of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects of alcohol in humans (Kwo et al., 1998; Ramchandani et al., 1999, 2001, 2002; Blekher et al., 2002; Morzorati et al., 2002).”

“…variety of nonimaging human studies have attempted to experimentally alter emotional states while administering alcohol or measuring alcohol intake (Gabel et al., 1980; Stritzke et al., 1996; Curtin et al., 1998; Schroder and Perrine, 2007), but these studies have not demonstrated a specific…”

“…depending on factors such as the point on the blood alcohol concentration vs time curve, the individual’s drinking history, and the dose of alcohol consumed (Levenson et al., 1980; Lukas et al., 1986; Turkkan et al., 1988; Giancola and Zeichner, 1997; Conrod et al., 2001; King et al., 2002).”

“…al., 2000; Elliott et al., 2000; Knutson et al., 2003), as well as primary rewards (e.g., fruit juice) (Berns et al., 2001; McClure et al., 2003), social rewards (acquisition of good reputation; Izuma et al., 2008), and drugs of abuse (Breiter et al., 1997; Gilman et al., 2008; Stein et al., 1998).”

“Alcohol takes effect through promoting the reaction of the GABAA receptor [72] and increasing stimulation to the dopamine and opiate receptor [73,74].”