Individuals who experience greater stimulation and less sedation from alcohol are at increased risk for alcohol-related problems. However, little is known regarding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying subjective response to alcohol. The current study examined the degree to which alcohol-induced brain activation correlates with ratings of stimulation and sedation, using a within-subjects, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Participants (N = 34 healthy adults with no history of alcohol use disorder) completed three sessions: a calibration session to determine the duration of infusion needed to bring the breath alcohol to 80 mg/dl for each subject, and two counterbalanced fMRI sessions with placebo and alcohol administration. During the fMRI sessions, participants underwent 50 min scans, which included a 10 min baseline period, the IV infusion period needed to bring breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) to a peak 80 mg/dl (on the alcohol session), followed by a post-peak decline period. Participants rated their subjective stimulation and sedation at regular intervals throughout the scan. A priori VOI analyses showed that the time course of stimulation correlated with BOLD signal in the striatum. The time course of sedation did not correlate with BOLD signal in any VOIs. There were no correlations in primary visual cortex, which served as a control. These findings are the first to show that alcohol effects in the striatum are linked to the positive, stimulant-like effects of the drug and advance our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying individual differences in subjective responses to alcohol, and more broadly, risk for alcohol use disorders.

中文翻译：

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纹状体活动与健康志愿者中酒精的兴奋剂样作用相关。

受到酒精刺激更大而镇静作用较小的人患酒精相关问题的风险增加。然而，关于酒精的主观反应的神经生物学机制知之甚少。目前的研究使用受试者内部，双盲，安慰剂对照设计，研究了酒精诱导的大脑激活与刺激和镇静等级之间的相关程度。参与者（N = 34名没有酒精使用障碍史的健康成年人）完成了三个阶段：一次校准阶段，以确定每个受试者使呼吸酒精达到80 mg / dl所需的输液持续时间，以及两个使用安慰剂的平衡fMRI阶段和酒精管理。在功能磁共振成像会议期间，参与者进行了50分钟的扫描，其中包括10分钟的基线期，静脉输液需要使呼吸中的酒精浓度（BrAC）达到峰值80 mg / dl（在酒精疗程中），然后是高峰后下降期。在整个扫描过程中，参与者定期对自己的主观刺激和镇静作用进行评分。VOI的先验分析表明，刺激的时间过程与纹状体中的BOLD信号相关。镇静的时间过程与任何VOI中的BOLD信号均不相关。在作为对照的初级视觉皮层中没有相关性。这些发现是第一个表明纹状体中的酒精作用与药物的积极的，类似兴奋剂的作用相关联的方法，并进一步加深了我们对个体对酒精的主观反应的个体差异以及更广泛的酒精风险的神经生物学机制的理解。使用障碍。