Alcoholism Gender Differences in Brain Responsivity to Emotional Stimuli

Abstract

Men and women may use alcohol to regulate their emotions differently, with corresponding differences in neural responses. We examined how photographs of emotional stimuli impacted brain activity obtained through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) from 42 alcoholic (25 women) and 46 nonalcoholic (24 women) participants. Brain responsivity was blunted in alcoholic compared to nonalcoholic groups. Further analyses indicated significant gender differences in the impact of alcoholism. Brain activation of the alcoholic men (ALCM) was significantly lower than that of the alcoholic women (ALCW) and nonalcoholic men (NCM) in regions including the inferior parietal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus, and postcentral gyrus, whereas activation was higher in the ALCW than in the nonalcoholic women (NCW) in superior frontal and supramarginal cortical regions. The reduced brain reactivity of ALCM and increases for ALCW highlighted divergent brain regions and gender effects, suggesting possible differences in the underlying basis for development of alcohol use disorders.