Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition Linked to Alcohol Use in Trauma-exposed Males and Females Restricted; Files Only
Zhao, Joshua (Spring 2024)
Abstract
PTSD and other trauma-related disorders can lead towards excessive alcohol consumption. Impaired response inhibition could potentially be a mechanism in which both of these conditions develop. Using data from the AURORA clinical dataset, we performed a Go/NoGo task on n=329 recently trauma-exposed participants in order to measure neural activity during response inhibition in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG), and the bilateral hippocampus. Participants were placed in three groups: an increasing alcohol change group, a decreasing alcohol change group, and a no change group based on their change in alcohol usage from pre-trauma to 8 weeks post trauma and 6 months post trauma. Due to sex differences in response inhibition, alcohol use, and vulnerability to PTSD, two-way ANOVA was used to examine the interaction between sex and alcohol change group on brain activation at 8 weeks and 6 months. Separate one-way ANOVA on each sex were run to better understand the within-sex differences between different alcohol change groups. At 8 weeks, females in the no change group had significantly greater rIFG activation compared to females in the decreasing group, while males in the no change group had significantly lower right hippocampus activation compared to males in the decreasing group. Females in the no change group had significantly higher right hippocampus activation compared to males in the no change group. At 6 months, females in the increasing group had higher right hippocampal activation than males in the increasing group. These findings suggest that the rIFG and right hippocampus are highly important regions in the progression of PTSD and could potentially be involved in inhibiting alcohol use. The sex differences that were observed in the right hippocampus reveals a potential target for sex-specific interventions.
Table of Contents
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………1
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..2
Methods………………………………………………………………………………………4
Results………………………………………………………………………………………..6
Discussion……………………………………………………………………………….……8
Tables and Figures…………………………………………………………………………..12
References…………………………………………………………………………………...19
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File download under embargo until 24 May 2025 | 2024-04-10 10:03:06 -0400 | File download under embargo until 24 May 2025 |
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