RT Journal Article
T1 "It's a beer!": Brain functional hyperconnectivity during processing of alcohol-related images in young binge drinkers
A1 Almeida Antunes, Natália Alexandra
A1 Antón Toro, Luis Fernando
A1 Crego, Alberto
A1 Rodrigues, Rui
A1 Sampaio, Adriana
A1 López-Caneda, Eduardo
AB Alcohol attentional bias has been pointed as a major marker of alcohol misuse. Recent evidence has revealed that brain functional connectivity (FC) may be a valuable index of the brain networks' integrity in young binge drinkers (BDs). However, there is no study to date examining the FC networks linked to the processing of alcohol-related images in this population. The present study aimed to explore the FC signatures underlying alcohol attention bias in young BDs. Thus, electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded in 54 college students (55.5% females; 27 non/low-drinkers and 27 BDs) while performing a visual alcohol cue-reactivity task. We evaluated whole-brain FC profiles during the processing of alcoholic and non-alcoholic cues, as well as their potential relationship with craving and severity of alcohol use. Results showed that, at the behavioural level, BDs rated alcohol-related images as more pleasant/attractive than non/low-drinkers. Furthermore, at the electrophysiological level, BDs exhibited increased beta-band FC-particularly in the fronto-parieto-occipital network-when processing alcoholic cues. Conversely, they displayed reduced theta-band FC relatively to non/low-drinkers for non-alcoholic images. These hyper-/hypo-connectivity patterns were associated with higher alcohol craving levels. Findings are congruent with previous neurofunctional studies reporting an attentional bias towards alcohol-related information in BDs. These results may have important clinical implications as this neural reactivity to alcoholic cues may contribute to the maintenance and/or escalation of the drinking pattern. Finally, the present study constitutes the first evidence showing that FC networks may be a sensitive indicator to alcohol attentional bias in BDs.
PB Wiley published on behalf of the Society for the Study of Addiction
SN 1355-6215
YR 2022
FD 2022-03-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/116015
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/116015
LA eng
NO Almeida‐Antunes, N., Antón‐Toro, L., Crego, A., Rodrigues, R., Sampaio, A., & López‐Caneda, E. (2022). «It’s a beer!»: Brain functional hyperconnectivity during processing of alcohol‐related images in young binge drinkers. Addiction Biology, 27(2), e13152. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13152
NO Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal)
NO Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (Portugal)
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Banco Santander
NO European Commission
DS Docta Complutense
RD 27 mar 2026