Table 4.
Overview of findings: Structural and functional correlates of binge drinking in young people
| Brain structure | Brain function | Neurophysiological | Cognitive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-existing features, identified from longitudinal studies Consequences of binge drinking, identified from longitudinal studies |
↓ Cortical volume (ACC, frontal, cingulate) ↓ Surface area (DLPFC) ↓ White matter volume (cerebellar) ↓ Grey matter volume (neocortex, frontal, temporal, diencephalon, caudate, brainstem, PCC) ↓ White matter growth (pons, corpus callosum) |
↓ Brain activation during tasks of working memory (parietal, frontal), inhibition (frontal, parietal, putamen, cerebellar) ↑ Brain activation during tasks of inhibition (frontal, parietal, cerebellar) Aberrant brain activation during tasks of working memory (frontal, parietal) |
Delayed P1, N2, P3b latencies during emotional valence task ↑Amplitude during tasks of inhibition (P3), attention (P3b), associative memory (VPP, DM), alcohol related cues (P3) ↑ PFC, insula activation during task of inhibition ↓ Amplitude during non-alcohol related cues (P1, P3) |
↓ Decision-making ↓ Recent memory ↑ Amplitude during tasks of inhibition ↓ Long-term memory ↓ Sustained attention (males) ↓Visuoconstructional function (females) ↓ Working memory (improvement with time) ↑ Impulsivity (delay discounting) |
| Cross-sectional correlates with binge drinking | ↓ Cortical thickness (frontal, parietal, ACC, PCC) ↓ GABA (ACC) ↓ Grey matter volume (L hemisphere) ↓ Grey matter voxel content (ACC) ↓ NAA/cr (ACC) ↓ White matter integrity (corona radiata, corpus callosum, longitudinal fasciculus, internal & external capsule, fornix, cerebellar peduncle) ↓ White matter volume (L, R hemisphere) ↑ White matter voxel content (ACC) Abnormal cortical volume (↓ males, ↑ females; PFC, temporal, motor, somatosensory, striatal) Abnormal cortical thickness (↓ males, ↑ females; frontal) |
↓ Brain activation during tasks of emotion recognition (temporal) ↑ Brain activation during tasks of decision-making (amygdala, insula), inhibition (frontal, ACC, insula), working memory (frontal, parietal, supplementary motor, PFC, cerebellar, thalamus, insula), alcohol cue reactivity (ACC, dorsal striatum, globus pallidus, cerebellar, parahippocampal), emotion recognition (frontal) Aberrant brain activation during spatial working memory (↓ females, ↑ males; frontal, ACC, temporal, cerebellar) |
↓ Alpha connectivity (frontal-temporal) ↓ Alpha power (temporal, occipital) ↓ Amplitude during tasks of attention (N100, N170, P100, P2, N2b, LPC) ↓ PFC activation ↑ Amplitude during tasks of attention (N2), inhibition (ERN), alcohol cue reactivity (P100) ↑ Beta (frontal-temporal), delta (frontal-temporal), theta (frontal-parietal) connectivity ↑ Beta (parahippocampal, fusiform), theta (cuneus, lingual) density ↑ Delta, theta, mean spectral power Delayed P100, N100, N2b, P3a, P3b, Pe latency during tasks of attention |
↓ Decision-making ↓ Inhibition ↓ Executive functioning ↓ Emotion recognition ↑ Processing speed |
| Effect of discontinuation of binge drinking, identified from longitudinal studies | – | Normalised brain activation during alcohol related cues | ↓ P3 amplitude during task of inhibition* | ↑ Long-term memory* ↑ Recent memory ↑ Working memory* |
*
Results of ex-binge drinkers reflect an intermediate position between continuous binge and non-binge drinking participants
ACC: anterior cingulate cortex; DLPFC: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; DM: difference due to memory effect; ERN: error-related negativity; L: left; LPC: late potential component; Pe: error positivity component; PCC: posterior cingulate cortex; PFC: prefrontal cortex; R: right; VPP: vertex positive potential