Figure 3.

Whole-brain voxel-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) showing a sex × condition interaction and corresponding activations in the stress-neutral and alcohol cue-neutral contrasts for males (M) and females (F) who drink socially.

A: The sex × condition interaction effect was significant in regions of the superior and middle frontal gyrus (SFG/MFG), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC, dorsomedial and ventromedial), rostral anterior cingulate cortex, emotion limbic regions (posterior insula, putamen, amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus), temporal lobe, and visuomotor perception areas (parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and cerebellum) (p < 0.01 whole-brain familywise error [FWE] rate corrected). To elucidate the source of the interaction, male versus female contrasts were conducted for (B) stress relative to neutral, and (C) alcohol cue relative to neutral brain responses at the p < .05 whole-brain FWE corrected. Significantly, greater M > F stress-induced activity in the mPFC and limbic regions was observed. Alcohol cue-induced activity in the SFG/MFG was significantly higher in women than in men. No differences in F > M for the stress-neutral and in M > F contrast for the alcohol cue-neutral survived whole-brain correction. Coordinates are given in Montreal Neurological Institute space. Note: F, female; L, left; M, male; mPFC, medial prefrontal cortex; R, right. Source: Reproduced with permission from Seo et al., 2011.49 Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. All rights reserved.