ArticleAlcoholism, clinical and experimental research2021
Alterations in connectivity of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis during early abstinence in individuals with alcohol use disorder.
Article in Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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15 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alcohol abstinence precipitates alcohol seeking and aversion-resistant intake in association with increased BNST activity.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Not just neurons: glial mechanisms driving sex-specific vulnerability to withdrawal and relapse in substance use disorder.Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2026Review
- Sex-based Influences on White Matter Tract Integrity in Alcohol Use Disorder: a Systematic Review.Current addiction reports · 2025Article
- Sex and sobriety: Human brain structure and function in AUD abstinence.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2024Review
- Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis network responses to unpredictable threat in early alcohol abstinence.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2024Article
- Neural circuits regulating visceral pain.Communications biology · 2024Review
- Manual segmentation of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the dorsal and ventral bed nucleus of stria terminalis using multimodal 7 Tesla structural MRI: probabilistic atlases for a stress-control triad.Brain structure & function · 2024Article
- Alterations in BNST Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in Early Abstinence from Alcohol Use Disorder.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2023Article
- Alcohol use disorder: Neuroimaging evidence for accelerated aging of brain morphology and hypothesized contribution to age-related dementia.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2023Review
- Aberrant impulse control circuitry in obesity.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Article
- Regulation of alcohol drinking by ventral striatum and extended amygdala circuitry.Neuropharmacology · 2022Review
- Subiculum-BNST structural connectivity in humans and macaques.NeuroImage · 2022Article
- Chronic stress-induced synaptic changes to corticotropin-releasing factor-signaling in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2022Review
- Childhood Threat Is Associated With Lower Resting-State Connectivity Within a Central Visceral Network.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Better living through understanding the insula: Why subregions can make all the difference.Neuropharmacology · 2021Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFor individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), long-term recovery is difficult in part due to symptoms of anxiety that occur during early abstinence and can trigger relapse. Research in rodent models of AUD has identified the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a small, sexually dimorphic, subcortical region, as critical for regulating anxiety-like behaviors during abstinence, particularly in female mice. Furthermore, prolonged alcohol use and subsequent abstinence alter BNST afferent and efferent connections to other brain regions. To our knowledge, however, no studies of early abstinence have investigated BNST structural connectivity in humans during abstinence; this study addresses that gap.
methodsNineteen participants with AUD currently in early abstinence and 20 healthy controls completed a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scan. BNST structural connectivity was evaluated using probabilistic tractography. A linear mixed model was used to test between-groups differences in BNST network connectivity. Exploratory analyses were conducted to test for correlations between BNST connectivity and alcohol use severity and anxiety within the abstinence group. Sex was included as a factor for all analyses.
resultsThe BNST showed stronger structural connectivity with the BNST network in early abstinence women than in control women, which was not seen in men. Women also showed region-specific differences, with stronger BNST-hypothalamus structural connectivity but weaker vmPFC-BNST structural connectivity than men. Exploratory analyses also demonstrated a relationship between alcohol use severity and vmPFC-BNST structural connectivity that was moderated by sex.
conclusionsThis study is the first to demonstrate BNST structural connectivity differences in early abstinence and revealed key sex differences. The sex-specific differences in BNST structural connectivity during early abstinence could underlie known sex differences in abstinence symptoms and relapse risk and help to inform potential sex-specific treatments.
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