Decreased Frontoparietal-Insula Connectivity in Adults with a Family History of Alcohol Use Disorder (2014)

Undergraduates: Michael Parrish, Christopher Smith Melisa Menceloglu, Scott Oppler

Faculty Advisor: Charlotte Boettiger
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are highly heritable, with twin studies showing that 40-60 % of AUD risk is genetic. Therefore, family history of alcohol abuse or dependence is an important indicator of risk for the development of an AUD. To date, no neuroimaging studies have examined differences in intrinsic brain connectivity based on AUD family history status in adults. We used intrinsic connectivity MRI analysis to assess the coactivation of predefined brain regions in identified intrinsic networks during the resting state in healthy adults, comparing the neural circuitry of those classified as family history positive (FHP; n=22) or family history negative (FHN; n=36). All participants were screened for psychiatric diagnoses, including any lifetime substance use disorders. The FHP and FHN groups did not differ in terms of age, sex, socioeconomic status, education, IQ, or substance use. Covariation in activity between the right frontoinsular cortex (rFIC), a salience network (SN) node, and frontoparietal nodes of the central executive network (CEN) were compared between FH groups. The SN-CEN connectivity of FHN individuals was significantly greater than that observed in the FHP group (t(56)=2.99, p= .004). These findings predict impaired switching between exogenous and endogenous attention networks in FHP individuals, and provide preliminary evidence that resting state connectivity between frontoparietal and insular regions is a novel biomarker for AUD risk in adults.