Impact of Binge Drinking During College on Resting State Functional Connectivity

Tong, T. T.; Vaidya, J. G.; Kramer, J. R.; Kuperman, S.; Langbehn, D. R.; OLeary, D. S.

doi:10.1101/2021.02.09.430381

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.02.09.430381

Impact of Binge Drinking During College on Resting State Functional Connectivity

Tong, T. T.·Vaidya, J. G.·Kramer, J. R.·Kuperman, S.·Langbehn, D. R.·OLeary, D. S.

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Abstract

AimThe current study aimed to examine the longitudinal effects of standard binge drinking (4+/5+ drinks for females/males in 2 hours) and extreme binge drinking (8+/10+ drinks for females/males in 2 hours) on resting state functional connectivity. Method119 college students with distinct alcohol bingeing patterns (35 non-bingeing controls, 44 standard bingers, and 40 extreme bingers) were recruited to ensure variability in bingeing frequency. Resting state fMRI scans were obtained at time 1 when participants were college freshmen and sophomores and again approximately two years later. On four occasions during the 2-year period between scans, participants reported monthly standard and extreme binge drinking for the past 6 months. Association between bingeing and change in functional connectivity was studied using both network-level and edge-level analysis. Network connectivity was calculated by aggregating multiple edges (a functional connection between any two brain regions) affiliated with the same network. The network-level analysis used mixed-effects models to assess the association between standard/extreme binge drinking and change in network connectivity, focusing on canonical networks often implicated in substance misuse. On the other hand, the edge-level analysis tested the relationship between bingeing and change in whole-brain connectivity edges using connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM). ResultsFor network-level analysis, higher standard bingeing was associated with a decrease in connectivity between Default Mode Network-Ventral Attention Network (DMN-VAN) from time 1 to time 2, controlling for the initial binge groups at time 1, longitudinal network changes, in-scanner motion and other demographic covariates. For edge-level analysis, the CPM failed to identify a generalizable predictive model of cumulative standard/extreme bingeing from change in connectivity edges. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that binge drinking is associated with abnormality in networks implicated in attention allocation and self-focused processes, which, in turn, have been implicated in rumination, craving, and relapse. More extensive alterations in functional connectivity might be observed with heavier or longer binge drinking pattern.

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Tong, T. T., Vaidya, J. G., Kramer, J. R., Kuperman, S., Langbehn, D. R., OLeary, D. S.. 2021-02-15. Impact of Binge Drinking During College on Resting State Functional Connectivity. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.09.430381

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