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Behavioral inhibition and reward processing in college binge drinkers with and without marijuana use
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Behavioral inhibition and reward processing in college binge drinkers with and without marijuana use

Tien T Tong, Jatin G Vaidya, John R Kramer, Samuel Kuperman, Douglas R Langbehn and Daniel S O’Leary
Drug and alcohol dependence, Vol.213, pp.108119-108119
08/01/2020
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108119
PMID: 32599494

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Abstract

•Investigated inhibition and reward related brain activation in college students.•Focused on standard/extreme binge drinkers with and without marijuana use.•Groups did not differ from one another or in comparison to controls.•Functional brain differences may emerge after greater use of alcohol/marijuana. Binge drinking is common during college, and studies have shown that many college students drink in quantities that far exceed the standard binge drinking threshold. Previous research has noted personality differences in individuals who engage in binge drinking, but few studies have examined neurobiological differences in both standard bingers (4/5 drinks in two hours for females/males; sBinge) and extreme binge drinkers (8+/10+ drinks in two hours for females/males; eBinge). The current study of 221 college students used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study neural activation on a stop signal task (SST) to assess behavioral inhibition and a monetary incentive delay (MID) task to assess activation to rewards and losses. Non-bingeing controls, sBinge, and eBinge freshmen and sophomores were recruited. In addition, because binge/extreme binge drinking is often associated with marijuana (MJ) use, MJ + sBinge and MJ + eBinge groups were also included. All five groups showed strong activation in expected key cortical and striatal regions on both the SST and the MID. However, there were no significant differences between groups either at the whole-brain level or in specific regions of interest. Behavioral performance on the fMRI tasks also did not differ between groups. These results suggest that our sample of individuals who engage in binge or extreme binge drinking with or without MJ co-use do not differ in brain activity on reward and inhibitory tasks. Neural differences may be present on other cognitive tasks or may emerge later after more sustained use of alcohol, MJ, and other drugs.
Binge drinking Marijuana Brain imaging Inhibition Reward Combined substance use

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