OBJECTIVE Altered activity within reward-related neural regions, including the ventral striatum (VS) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), is associated with concurrent problematic substance use. The aims of the present study were (a) to identify patterns of reward-related neural activity that prospectively predicted changes in alcohol use 2 years after magnetic resonance imaging in a sample of adolescents, and (b) to examine whether these patterns differed by sex. We also tested whether depression symptoms or impulsivity mediated associations between neural activity and future alcohol use. METHOD Participants were 262 adolescents (129 male and 133 female) of Mexican origin who completed the Monetary Incentive Delay task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan at age 16. Participants reported on their alcohol use at ages 16 and 18. RESULTS Results indicated that different patterns of reward-related neural activity predicted future increases in alcohol use for male and female adolescents. In boys, higher VS activity during reward anticipation and average ventral mPFC activity during reward feedback predicted increases in alcohol use from age 16 to 18 years; in girls, higher dorsal mPFC activity and blunted VS activity during reward anticipation predicted increases in alcohol use from age 16 to 18 years. Depression symptoms or impulsivity did not mediate these associations. CONCLUSION The results suggest that different pathways of risk may lead to problematic alcohol use for adolescent boys and girls. These sex differences in neural risk pathways have important implications for prevention and intervention approaches targeting Mexican-origin youth.

中文翻译：

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奖励相关的大脑活动可以预测青少年饮酒的增加。

目的奖励相关神经区域（包括腹侧纹状体（VS）和内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC））内活动的改变与同时使用有问题的物质有关。本研究的目的是（a）确定与奖赏相关的神经活动的模式，这些模式可预期在青少年磁共振成像后2年内预测酒精使用的变化，以及（b）检查这些模式是否因性别而异。我们还测试了抑郁症状或冲动是否介导了神经活动与未来饮酒之间的关联。方法参与者为来自墨西哥的262名青少年（男129例，女性133例），他们在16岁进行功能性磁共振成像扫描时完成了货币奖励延迟任务，参与者报告了16岁和18岁时饮酒的情况。结果结果表明，与奖励相关的神经活动的不同模式预示着男性和女性青少年饮酒的未来增长。在男孩中，奖励预期期间的较高VS活动和奖励反馈期间的平均腹侧mPFC活动预测了16至18岁之间的酒精使用量会增加；在女孩中，预期奖赏期间背侧mPFC活性较高和VS活性减弱可预测16至18岁年龄段的酒精使用量会增加。抑郁症状或冲动没有介导这些关联。结论结果表明，不同的危险途径可能导致青少年男孩和女孩饮酒困难。神经风险途径中的这些性别差异对于针对墨西哥裔青年的预防和干预方法具有重要意义。