Alcohol and benzodiazepines are among the most commonly abused drugs, and persons who abuse one often abuse the other. An important risk factor for alcohol abuse is genetic vulnerability. This genetic liability is manifested in adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) by an increased frequency of euphoric response to benzodiazepines. There is a need for an objective marker of this type of drug-induced euphoria. Such a marker should identify neurobiologic factors that relate to increased vulnerability to alcohol/benzodizepines abuse, by expanding the understanding of how benzodiazepines induce euphoria and identifying the neuroanatomic regions involved. Decreased function in the right hemisphere, especially the right frontal region, has been associated with euphoric behavior.
The aim of this pilot study is to test the hypothesis that a decrease in cerebral blood volume (CBV) in the right frontal region will be seen in ACOAs who subjectively experience euphoria after a dose of alprazolam. This hypothesis is testable using functional neuroimaging in the form of Echo Planar Magnetic Resonance Imaging (EP MRI). This pilot study uses a double blind, placebo controlled, within subject design, in which ACOAs will be scanned using EP MRI and complete mood scales before and after placebo, and before and after alprazolam. ACOAs were chosen to maximize the number of subjects who will experience alprazolam induced euphoria. Differences in CBV in specific brain regions will be determined by subtracting the regional blood volume in the alprazolam induced (or placebo induced) state from the resting state. This will provide an objective measure of alprazolam induced euphoria and test the hypothesis that decreased right frontal lobe function is associated with alprazolam-induced euphoria.
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| Streeter, C C; Ciraulo, D A; Harris, G J et al. (1998) Functional magnetic resonance imaging of alprazolam-induced changes in humans with familial alcoholism. Psychiatry Res 82:69-82 |
