Finally, HIV + individuals with higher levels of alcohol consumption during their period of heaviest use would demonstrate more clusters of negative connectivity relative to other comparison groups due to the negative effects of HIV and alcohol on attention and working memory networks.įMRI preprocessing was conducted using the CONN (NITRC) toolbox for SPM12. Additionally, we hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of alcohol consumption during their period of heaviest use would demonstrate significantly negative functional connectivity from IPL to frontal regions relative to individuals with lighter drinking histories and positive connectivity with mesolimbic regions. We hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of alcohol consumption during their period of heaviest use would demonstrate significantly negative functional connectivity from dlPFC to parietal regions, along with positive connectivity from dlPFC to mesolimbic regions relative to individuals with lighter drinking histories.
Furthermore, we aimed to examine whether HIV status and the interaction between HIV and alcohol consumption was associated with differences in these brain networks. Our objectives were to examine if there was a relationship between networks involved in working memory and reported level of alcohol consumption during an individual’s period of heaviest use. However, no studies among HIV positive individuals have examined verbal working memory task-based connectivity differences comparing individuals with a history of alcohol dependence compared to those without a history of alcohol dependence. The authors used a metric called scaled inclusivity, which considers overlap and disjunction between all modules in a whole-brain analysis. Mayhugh and colleagues demonstrated that moderate and heavy drinkers tended to exhibit decreased central executive network connectivity during 1-back working memory task.
Alcohol dependent individuals performed similarly to controls, but demonstrated more robust connectivity between left posterior cingulate and left cerebellar regions, which the authors suggest, related to compensatory systems operating through an alternative network. One study examined default mode connectivity during a spatial working memory task, comparing alcohol dependent individuals and non-dependent individuals. Previous research on the topic of prefrontal response and fronto-striatal connectivity suggests that differences in connectivity strength are related to differences to behavior patterns in addiction. Working Memory, Substance Use and Functional Connectivityįunctional connectivity from functional MRI (fMRI) may serve as a systems-level biomarker to identify individual differences related to: disease expression, cognitive functioning abilities and disorder classification. Given that the decision to use alcohol, along with the decision to engage in other risk behaviors relates to cognitive networks, it is important to understand these cognitive networks to develop effective interventions.ġ.3.
One study, which used a computer simulation model of an alcohol intervention, demonstrated that a 45% reduction in unhealthy alcohol consumption could prevent nearly half of new infections over 20 years in a nation with high rates of HIV, such as Kenya. However, this morbidity and mortality can be stemmed with effective alcohol interventions. Alcohol use among PLWH has previously been associated with poor retention in care, reduced adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART), increased sexual risk behaviors and reduced immunological and virological response to antiretroviral therapy. samples of people living with HIV, rates of hazardous drinking have ranged from 5 to 33%. Use of alcohol among people living with HIV (PLWH) is a significant public health concern.