Nucleus Accumbens Response to Reward among Children with a Family History of Alcohol Use Problems: Convergent Findings from the ABCD Study® and Michigan Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Having a family history of alcohol use problems (FH+) conveys risk for alcohol use in offspring. Reward-related brain functioning may play a role in this vulnerability. The present study investigated brain function in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) associated with the anticipation of reward in youth with two biological parents with alcohol use problems (FH+2), one biological parent with alcohol use problems (FH+1), and no biological parents with alcohol use problems (FH-). Participants were from the large, national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (mean age: 9.93; 48% female; FH+2 n = 223, FH+1 n = 1447, FH- n = 9690) and the Michigan Longitudinal Study (MLS), consisting of community-recruited families with high rates of alcohol use disorder (mean age: 10.54; 39.3% female; FH+2 n = 40, FH+1 n = 51, FH- n = 40). Reward anticipation was measured by the monetary incentive delay task. Regression models were used to assess associations between FH status and the anticipation of large rewards in right and left NAcc regions of interest. In both studies, FH+2 youth showed blunted anticipatory reward responding in the right NAcc compared to FH+1 youth. In the MLS, FH+2 youth also had blunted anticipatory reward responding in the right NAcc compared to the FH- group. Convergent results across two separate samples provide insights into a unique vulnerability of FH+2 youth and suggest that binary FH+ versus FH- categorizations may obscure important differences within FH+ youth.

Neural response to threat and reward among young adults at risk for alcohol use disorder

“…Consistent with previous research (e.g., 18 , 48 , 49 ), our results indicate that those with positive family histories have less neural differentiation between rewarding and neutral cues and outcomes, than those without such family histories. These results suggest that the family history positive group has dampened monetary reward salience irrespective of unpredictable threat.…”

“…For example, a study of children and adolescents showed that those with, relative to without, a family history of harmful alcohol use showed reduced activation in the nucleus accumbens when anticipating potential monetary rewards. 18 Similarly, greater synchrony of reward circuitry (including the accumbens) during early adolescence was a predictor of future risky drinking for females in a large longitudinal study. 19 Biological response to a threat of shock (i.e., strength of eye blink reflex) was stronger in young adults with, relative to without, a family history of AUD.…”

“…Several studies have investigated whether these altered neural responses may precede heavy drinking by studying young individuals with enriched risk via family history. For example, a study of children and adolescents showed that those with, relative to without, a family history of harmful alcohol use showed reduced activation in the nucleus accumbens when anticipating potential monetary rewards 18 . Similarly, greater synchrony of reward circuitry (including the accumbens) during early adolescence was a predictor of future risky drinking for females in a large longitudinal study 19 .…”

Alcohol Sipping Patterns, Personality, and Psychopathology in Children: Moderating Effects of Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC)

“…Earlier age of drinking onset is associated with alcohol dependence later in life (Grant, 1998) and psychopathology symptoms (Skogen et al, 2016). Children coming from a family with history of AUD are more likely to have reduced anticipatory reward responding (Martz et al, 2022), and reward sensitivity features can influence the degree of alcohol consumption across development (Watts et al, 2023). On the other hand, adolescents who are less likely to sip alcohol present higher self-esteem, behavioral regulation and increased liking of school (May et al, 2022).…”

Synaptic pruning during adolescence shapes adult social behavior in both males and females

“…Adolescence is an evolutionarily conserved period during which reward‐related behaviors, including social behaviors, develop via developmental plasticity in the mesolimbic dopaminergic “reward” circuitry of the brain (Brenhouse & Schwarz, 2016; Manduca et al., 2016). The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is an intermediate reward relay center that develops during adolescence (Bayassi‐Jakowicka et al., 2021; Huppe‐Gourgues & O'Donnell, 2012; Kopec et al., 2018; Martz et al., 2022; Orihuel et al., 2021) and mediates both social behaviors and dopaminergic signaling (Halbout et al., 2019; Manduca et al., 2016). In rodents, the NAc is particularly sensitive to social experience: Both positive and negative social experiences during adolescence produce long‐term effects in both the neuroanatomy of the NAc and matured social behaviors (Bendersky et al., 2021; Lemos et al., 2021).…”