Article

Alcohol-associated stimuli activate the ventral striatum in abstinent alcoholics.

Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany.
Acta Neurovegetativa (impact factor: 2.73). 02/2001; 108(7):887-94. pp.887-94
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Alcohol-associated cues may act as conditioned stimuli that activate the brain reward system and motivate alcohol intake in alcoholics. Alcohol-associated visual stimuli were presented during functional magnetic resonance imaging. An activation of the ventral putamen was observed in alcoholics but not in control subjects. Patients with a strong activation of the ventral putamen relapsed during the next three months. This observation supports the hypothesis that alcohol use affects areas involved in brain reward circuits and that their stimulus-induced activation may be associated with an increased risk for relapse.

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Keywords

activation
 
alcohol intake
 
alcohol use
 
Alcohol-associated cues
 
Alcohol-associated visual stimuli
 
alcoholics
 
brain reward circuits
 
brain reward system
 
functional magnetic resonance imaging
 
increased risk
 
Patients
 
relapse
 
stimulus-induced activation
 
strong activation
 
ventral putamen
 
ventral putamen relapsed