Cingulate cortex functional connectivity predicts future relapse in alcohol dependent individuals

Figures

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  Fig. 1. Main effects of cue condition in AUD patients. Voxel-wise connectivity revealed a significant (p < 0.05 corrected) main effect of cue trials in the cingulate cortex as shown in A) sagittal slices. These effects were driven by reduced cingulate connectivity during the B) alcohol, and C) stress cue trials compared to the neutral cue trials. Warm colors indicate regions of significant F statistics for main effects of task. Cool colors indicate regions of significant decreases in tissue connectivity during alcohol and stress cues relative to neutral cue connectivity. Note that all figures are shown in radiological convention (subject left is image right).

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  Fig. 2. Estimated survival functions for connectivity predicting relapse. Estimated survival functions for time to relapse (with the number of years of alcohol use and nicotine smoking held constant) are shown for the mean ICD connectivity value and ± 1 and 2 standard deviation above/below the mean. Weaker connectivity in the A) ACC and B) MCC during neutral cueing was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with longer time to relapse. C) Greater connectivity in the PCC during alcohol cueing compared to stress cueing was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with longer time to relapse. These figures of estimated survival functions show the x-axis up to day 60 because all patients who relapsed in the 90-day follow-up period relapsed with-in 60 days.

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  Fig. 3. Comparison of AUD patients and HC participants. Voxel-wise connectivity comparisons of 30 AUD patients and 30 matched HC participants revealed a significant (p < 0.05 corrected) cue by group interaction. A) The cue by group interaction was observed in mid and posterior cingulate cortex. Warm colors indicate regions of significant F statistics for cue by group interactions. B) Mean ICD connectivity and C) mean differences between cue conditions from the cingulate cortex regions showing a significant cue by group interaction were visualized in corresponding bar graphs. Pairwise comparisons of simple contrasts suggest that these main effects and interactions were primarily driven by differences in the alcohol and stress cue condition. Light grey denotes AUD patients and dark grey denotes HC participants.