Aberrant regional brain activities in alcohol dependence: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of alcohol-dependent subjects and healthy controls

Demographic factors	Alcohol-dependent subjects	Healthy controls	t/χ^2 value	p-value
Mean age, years	48.62 ± 6.81	48.48 ± 7.05	0.076	0.94
Sex (male, female)	29 (20, 9)	29 (18, 11)	0.305a	0.581
Education, years	9.52 ± 2.87	8.48 ± 3.1	1.318	0.193
Years of drink	27.93 ± 10.28	N/A	N/A	N/A
SADQ score	20.34 ± 6.89	N/A	N/A	N/A
AUDIT score	23.83 ± 5.55	2.55 ± 0.95	20.353	<0.001
Daily alcohol consumption, mL	239.66 ± 107.22	N/A	N/A	N/A

Notes:

a Chi-square (χ²) test; data are mean ± standard deviation values.

Abbreviations: AUDIT, alcohol use disorders identification test; N/A, not applicable; SADQ, severity of alcohol dependence questionnaire.

Figure 1 Compared to healthy controls, alcohol-dependent subjects showed altered ReHo areas.

Note: The red color represents an increased ReHo area, and the blue color represents a decreased ReHo area.
Abbreviations: L, left; R, right; ReHo, regional homogeneity.

Figure 2 Mean beta value of ReHo differences in regional brain areas.

Note: Significant differences were found for beta value of all ReHo brain areas between alcohol-dependent subjects and healthy controls (p < 0.001).
Abbreviations: CAL, cerebellum anterior lobe; CPL, cerebellum posterior lobe; ITG, inferior temporal gyrus; L, left; MFG, medial frontal gyrus; MTG, middle temporal gyrus; PG, precentral gyrus; R, right; ReHo, regional homogeneity; RG, rectal gyrus; SFG, superior frontal gyrus.

Table 2 Binarized degree centrality differences between alcohol-dependent subjects and healthy controls

Brain regions of peak coordinates	R/L	BA	Voxel size	t-score of peak voxel	Peak MNI coordinates
					x, y, z
Superior frontal gyrus	R	6	13	4.6918	9, 9, 60
Precentral gyrus	L	6	14	4.5918	−48, −3, 45
Medial frontal gyrus	L	6	16	4.9293	−6, −3, 57
Middle frontal gyrus	R	6	46	4.563	45, 0, 48
Middle temporal gyrus	L	21	17	5.6139	−69, −18, −15
Middle temporal gyrus	R	21	13	4.0442	57, −51, 0
Inferior temporal gyrus	R	37	14	4.9242	57, −57, −15
Pons, cerebellum anterior lobe	R	N/A	30	−6.3384	15, −27, −24
Cerebellum posterior lobe	R	N/A	17	−4.1926	27, −21, −45
Rectal gyrus	L	11	19	−5.1733	−6, 18, −24

Note: The statistical threshold was set at corrected significance level of individual voxel p < 0.001 using an AlphaSim-corrected threshold of cluster p < 0.05.

Abbreviations: BA, Brodmann’s area; L, left; MNI, Montreal Neurological Institute; N/A, not applicable; R, right.

Figure 3 ROC curve analysis of ReHo differences in regional brain areas.

Notes: ROC curve for differences in higher ReHo (A) and lower ReHo (B) in brain areas.
Abbreviations: CAL, cerebellum anterior lobe; CPL, cerebellum posterior lobe; ITG, inferior temporal gyrus; L, left; MFG, medial frontal gyrus; MTG, middle temporal gyrus; PG, precentral gyrus; R, right; ReHo, regional homogeneity; RG, rectal gyrus; ROC, receiver operating characteristic; SFG, superior frontal gyrus.

Table 3 ROC curve for the ReHo differences in brain areas between alcohol-dependent subjects and healthy controls

Brain area	AUC	Sensitivity, %	Specificity, %	Cutoff pointa
R_superior frontal gyrus	0.858	75	91.7	−0.182
L_precentral gyrus	0.837	75	83.3	0.135
L_medial frontal gyrus	0.828	83.3	67.5	0.792
R_middle frontal gyrus	0.877	62.5		0.299
L_middle temporal gyrus	0.891	95.8		0.251
R_middle temporal gyrus	0.839	79.2		0.462
R_inferior temporal gyrus	0.845	100		0.118
R_pons, cerebellum anterior lobe	0.911	75		−0.63
R_cerebellum posterior lobe	0.894	91.7		−0.8835
L_rectal gyrus	0.859	75		−0.6825

Note:

a Cutoff point of mean

Abbreviations: A homogeneity; ROC

Figure 4 Pearson correlation between behavioral performances and beta value of ReHo differences in brain areas.

Notes: Years of drink (A) and AUDIT score (B) showed correlations with altered ReHo brain areas.
Abbreviations: AUDIT, alcohol use disorders identification test; ReHo, regional homogeneity.