中国科学院自动化研究所机构知识库

Alcohol dependence (AD) is suggested to have polygenic risk factors and also exhibits neurological complications, strongly encouraging a translational study to explore the associations between aggregates of genetic variants and brain function alterations related to alcohol use. In this study, we used a semiblind multivariate approach, parallel independent component analysis with multiple references (pICA-MR) to investigate relationships of genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with alcohol cue elicited brain activations in 326 healthy drinkers. The genetic component derived from the CREB-BDNF pathway reference was significantly associated (r = −0.36, p = 2.98×10−11) with an imaging component reflecting hyperactivation in precuneus, superior parietal lobule, and posterior cingulate for drinkers with more severe AD scores. The highlighted brain regions participate in many cognitive processes and have been robustly implicated in craving-related studies. The genetic factor highlighted the CREB and BDNF references, as well as other genes including GRM5, GRM7, GRID1, GRIN2A, PRKCA and PRKCB. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis indicated that the genetic component was enriched in synaptic plasticity, GABA and protein kinase A signaling. In summary, our findings suggest genetic variations in various neural plasticity and signaling pathways partially explain the variance of precuneus reactivity to alcohol cue which appears to be associated with AD severity.