Lesnewich, Laura Marie. Neural and autonomic markers of alcohol use behavior change in emerging adulthood: a prospective study. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-5rzy-ce69
DescriptionAlcohol use contributes to an immense public health burden, and emerging adulthood (ages 18-30 years) represents the most high-risk time for transition to problematic drinking. Social factors are known to influence changes in alcohol use, but less is known about the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie changes in drinking behaviors over time. This longitudinal study of 107 emerging adults examined cross-sectional and prospective models of alcohol-related behaviors and consequences with the goal of identifying candidate biomarkers of these outcomes. Participants were assessed at three time points (T1, T2, T3). Non-linear regression (cross-sectional) and hierarchical generalized linear modeling (prospective) were used to model four alcohol-related outcomes: drinks per drinking day, drinking days per week, binge drinking incidence, and alcohol-related problems. Neurobiological predictors of interest, measured at T1, included resting-state functional connectivity within the central executive network (CEN) and between the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), as well as two indices of heart rate variability (HRV). All models controlled for age, sex, and either alcohol-related problems or binge drinking. The cross-sectional models of T1 data yielded multiple negative associations between CEN and amygdala-OFC connectivity and all four alcohol outcomes, as well as one positive association between CEN connectivity and alcohol-related problems. Prospective models indicated T1 connectivity of CEN edges stemming from the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were predictive of changes in drinks per drinking day, drinking days per week, and binge drinking. Additionally, T1 high-frequency HRV was predictive of changes in binge drinking. This study corroborates existing research demonstrating a relationship between CEN and amygdala-OFC connectivity and alcohol-related outcomes. The findings add novel prospective evidence, strengthening the hypothesis that functional connectivity and HRV may contribute to changes in drinking behaviors over time.