Effects of Alcohol Dependence Severity on Neural Correlates of Delay Discounting

The current study examines the relationship between alcohol dependence severity and delay discounting neural activation. Participants (N = 17; 6 female) completed measures of alcohol use and severity and a functional magnetic resonance imaging version of a delay discounting task. Alcohol dependence severity was negatively associated with activation in superior frontal gyrus during impulsive relative to delayed decisions, and positively associated with activation in paracingulate gyrus and frontal pole in delayed relative to impulsive decisions. These results indicate that alcohol dependence severity tracks closely with dysregulations in cognitive control and reward evaluation areas during impulsive and delayed decisions, respectively. Delay discounting may be a useful construct in capturing these cognitive dysregulations as alcohol use disorders become more severe. Among alcohol-dependent individuals, alcohol dependence severity is associated with overactivation of ventromedial prefrontal areas during delayed and underactivation of dorsolateral prefrontal regions during impulsive reward decisions.