The goal of this clinical trial is to better understand how blood flow in the brain, levels of the hormone, cortisol, and levels of an immune factor, interleukin-6, change in response to pictures of alcohol versus water pictures of water in healthy people who regularly consume alcohol. Researchers will learn about how the brain processes our environment and how it relates to people's drinking behaviors. This information is important because it may allow us to develop new treatments for Alcohol Use Disorders. Participants will be asked to fill out psychological questionnaires at the first appointment. Then, they will do MRI scans with blood draws at visits 2-6. After each MRI scan, participants will undergo the Alcohol Taste Test, which involves drinking beer. There will be a total of 3 visits at baseline, 2 visits one year later, and 2 visits one year after that. Each visit will last 2 hours. Each year, participants will do 21 days of surveys on a smart phone (4 surveys a day; each survey takes less than 2 minutes). The total time commitment for the entire study will be 23 hours.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
234
Mechanistic evaluation of neural, neuroendocrine, and immune biomarkers underlying alcohol cue reactivity and drinking behavior.
Auburn University MRI Center
Auburn, Alabama, United States
Neural cue reactivity to alcohol stimuli (fMRI BOLD response)
Change in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) activation to alcohol versus neutral cues in regions of interest (e.g., medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, striatum) measured using 7 Tesla functional MRI.
Time frame: Baseline, 1-year follow-up, 2-year follow-up.
Cortisol and IL-6 reactivity to alcohol cues
Change in plasma cortisol and interleukin-6 concentrations (pg/mL) from pre- to post-cue exposure in the laboratory alcohol administration session.
Time frame: Baseline, 1-year follow-up, 2-year follow-up.
Alcohol craving and consumption following cue exposure
Alcohol craving ratings on the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (1-7 visual analog scale, high scores mean worse outocme) and total volume of alcohol consumed (mL) during the Alcohol Taste Test following cue exposure.
Time frame: Baseline, 1-year follow-up, 2-year follow-up.
Real-world craving and drinking behavior (EMA)
Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) measures of craving, alcohol use, and contextual factors collected via smartphone app 3-5 times daily for 30 days following each lab session.
Time frame: 30-day EMA period after each assessment wave (baseline, 1 year, 2 years).
Composite biomarker index of neurobiological vulnerability
Composite score derived from standardized z-scores across neural, neuroendocrine, and immune cue-reactivity measures representing multi-attribute vulnerability.
Time frame: Baseline, 1-year follow-up, 2-year follow-up.
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