Blunted reward-related activation to food scenes distinguishes individuals with alcohol use disorder in a pilot case–control fMRI pilot study

Background

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is thought to bias the neurocircuitry underlying reward processing and motivation to preferentially attend to conditioned alcohol cues over natural rewards. The present case–control pilot study evaluated this hypothesis using novel natural reward paradigms.

Methods

Twenty-eight participants (AUD, n = 14, light drinkers, n = 14) were recruited—AUD participants reported 44.0% heavy drinking days (%HDD) and 4.67 drinks/day over the preceding 90 days. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired during the administration of three separate picture-viewing paradigms of alcohol cues, food scenes, and social reward, respectively. Independent samples t-tests were performed to compare groups' fMRI data and exploratory correlation analyses were performed to examine associations with clinical characteristics of AUD.

Results

Food scenes elicited abnormally low reward-related activation, within the superior frontal gyrus and caudate bilaterally, among AUD participants. Lower activation to food scenes within the superior frontal gyrus was, in turn, associated with higher levels of past-month %HDD among AUD participants, specifically, along with craving and alcohol dependence severity when examined across the full sample. Contrasting reward types (e.g., alcohol cues vs. food scenes) did not reveal “preferential” activation to differentiate groups.

Conclusions

Heavy drinking appears associated with reduced responsivity to natural rewards, specifically food rather than social cues. Neural mechanisms underlying the high prevalence of malnutrition among individuals with AUD may involve some combination of blunted approach-related affect and reduced craving-related motivation to eat when food is present, resulting in limited engagement of cortico-striato-thalamic motor circuitry supporting food acquisition. However, given the preliminary nature of this pilot study, such formulations remain tentative until larger follow-up studies can be conducted. From a potential translational standpoint, the ability of promising therapeutics to demonstrate increased responsivity to natural rewards, specifically nutritive reward may serve as a valuable complementary efficacy indicator for future clinical neuroimaging trials in AUD.