Citation

Courtney AL, Rapuano KM, Sargent JD, Heatherton TF, Kelley WM. J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs 2018; 79(1): 29-38.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

29227227

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we assess whether activation of the brain's reward system in response to alcohol advertisements is associated with college drinking. Previous research has established a relationship between exposure to alcohol marketing and underage drinking. Within other appetitive domains, the relationship between cue exposure and behavioral enactment is known to rely on activation of the brain's reward system. However, the relationship between neural activation to alcohol advertisements and alcohol consumption has not been studied in a nondisordered population.

METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 53 college students (32 women) completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan while viewing alcohol, food, and control (car and technology) advertisements. Afterward, they completed a survey about their alcohol consumption (including frequency of drinking, typical number of drinks consumed, and frequency of binge drinking) over the previous month.

RESULTS: In 43 participants (24 women) meeting inclusion criteria, viewing alcohol advertisements elicited activation in the left orbitofrontal cortex and bilateral ventral striatum-regions of the reward system that typically activate to other appetitive rewards and relate to consumption behaviors. Moreover, the level of self-reported drinking correlated with the magnitude of activation in the left orbitofrontal cortex.

CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that alcohol cues are processed within the reward system in a way that may motivate drinking behavior.

Language: en