Alcohol binge drinking during adolescence induce functional alterations in the bran network integrity​​​​​​​
Presenter: Dr. María Ángeles Correas
Authors: 
A. Correas1,2, P. Cuesta1, L. F. Anton1, E. Lopez-Caneda3, S. Rodriguez Holguín4, A. del Cerro Leon1, F. Cadaveira4, L. M. García-Moreno5, F. Maestu1,2
Organization:
1 Laboratoy of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience, Centre of Biomedical Technology (CTB), Madrid, Spain.
2 Department of Rxperimental Psychology, Cognitive Processes and Speech Therapy, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM)
3 Psychology Neuroscience Lab, Research Center in Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
4 Department of Clinical Psychology and Psycholobiology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
5 Department of Psycholobiology and methodology in Behavioral Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Introduction
Binge drinking is characterized by consuming large quantities of alcohol in a short time interval interspersed with periods of abstinence. It is commonly defined as drinking enough alcohol to reach Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0,08%, which is approximated with and intake of 5/4 drinks for males/females within a 2-hour interval. We assumed that those who drank more would present a greater FC network disruption in the DM.
Method
Eyes-closed resting state magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings of 21 Binge Drinkers (BDs) aged 18. We analyzed the brain functional connectivity (FC) of the Default Mode Network (DMN). Their estimated Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) was calculated based on the alcohol drinking information they provided from the past month. We considered the BAC to roughly represent the max BD level reached by each subject in the previous month.
Results
In the whole sample of BDs, we found that the BAC correlated positively with FC in Delta band in the Precuneus. The average PLV in the precuneus correlated negatively with two different measurements of working memory.
Conclusions
An increased FC in the precuneus is associated with high BAC reached by young BDs. At the same time, the increased precuneus FC in those subjects correlates with worse performance in working memory. These results suggest that BD during adolescence may impaired cognitive function via the precuneus.
Keywords: binge drinking, MEG, alcohol, functional connectivity