PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Gender differentiates how facial expressions are processed in the brains of alcoholics

Findings suggest that clinicians, educators and public health officials should approach different prevention and treatment strategies for men and women

2021-06-09
(Press-News.org) (Boston)--Should treatment of alcoholics be different based on gender? Yes, according to a new study that shows that alcoholic men and women respond differently to their disease resulting in different levels of brain activity and brain abnormalities. Research indicates that they distinguish facial expressions differently and that this is an important clue as to how treatment strategies might be tailored.

Chronic long-term Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) or "alcoholism," is a harmful condition that has been associated with deficits in emotion and memory, including memory for the emotional expressions of faces. In addition to its effects on memory for facial emotions, AUD also has been associated with impairments in the processing of facial emotional expressions which can endure after months or years of sobriety.

While prior studies have shown that ones' gender influences alcohol's impacts on the brain, this new research has found that the brain responds to emotional facial expressions differently in men and women. "Surprisingly, there were brain abnormalities for abstinent men with AUD that turned out to be unlike the abnormalities of abstinent women with AUD," said corresponding author and research scientist Kayle S. Sawyer, PhD, from the Psychology Research Service of the VA Boston Healthcare System, the department of anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), and radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

This project, led by BUSM's Marlene Oscar Berman, PhD, and MGH's Gordon Harris, PhD, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activity of a group of men and women with and without a history of AUD while they completed an emotional face memory task. The researchers then looked at activation differences between when they were looking at a fixation stimulus (plus signs) and when they were looking at photographs of faces with different facial expressions.

They found the faces elicited a similar overall pattern of activation for all four groups. "But when we compared the groups, we noticed important differences in their levels of activation. For example, the alcoholic men showed abnormally high activity in the frontal area of the brain that was not obvious in the alcoholic women," explained Sawyer. "These findings indicate that the experiences and mechanisms of alcohol addiction differ for the two genders," he added.

The researchers believe this study has implications for clinical research and more generally suggests that clinicians should consider gender carefully when treating alcohol use disorders. "Researchers should examine gender differences in many medical conditions, so that prevention and treatment strategies can be better tailored to individuals instead of applied generically using group averages. One important way that they can be tailored is by treating men and women differently when that is appropriate and beneficial and when justified by the research."

Prior research by this same group found abstinent alcoholic men have more diminished brain activity in areas responsible for emotional processing (limbic regions including the amygdala and hippocampus), as well as memory and social processing (cortical regions including the superior frontal and supramarginal regions) among other functions compared to alcoholic women.

INFORMATION:

These findings appear online in the journal PLOS One.

This work was supported by funds from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA; https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/) of the National Institutes of Health US Department of Health and Human Services under Award Numbers R01AA007112 and K05AA00219 awarded to M.O.B.; US Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Science Research and Development (https://www.research.va.gov/services/csrd/) grant I01CX000326 awarded to M.O.B; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health US Department of Health and Human Services under Award Numbers 1S10RR023401, 1S10RR019307, 1S10RR023043, and 1UL1TR001430. The grants provided support in the form of salaries for authors M.O.B., S.M.R., K.M., M.M.V., G.J.H., and K.S.S., but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. K.S.S. is an employee of Sawyer Scientific, LLC, and this affiliation provided no funding related to the work described in this manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the 'author contributions' section. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or the United States Government.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

How catalysts age

How catalysts age
2021-06-09
PSI researchers have developed a new tomography method with which they can measure chemical properties inside catalyst materials in 3-D extremely precisely and faster than before. The application is equally important for science and industry. The researchers published their results today in the journal Science Advances. The material group of vanadium phosphorus oxides (VPOs) is widely used as a catalyst in the chemical industry. VPOs have been used in the production of maleic anhydride since the 1970s. Maleic anhydride in turn is the starting material for the ...

Researchers develop tool to aid in development, efficiency of hydrogen-powered cars

Researchers develop tool to aid in development, efficiency of hydrogen-powered cars
2021-06-09
Widespread adoption of hydrogen-powered vehicles over traditional electric vehicles requires fuel cells that can convert hydrogen and oxygen safely into water - a serious implementation problem. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder are addressing one aspect of that roadblock by developing new computational tools and models needed to better understand and manage the conversion process. Hendrik Heinz, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, is leading the effort in partnership with the University of California Los Angeles. His team recently published new findings on the subject in Science Advances. Fuel cell electric vehicles combine ...

Lower and safer doses of laughing gas relieve treatment-resistant depression in phase 2 trial

2021-06-09
A single one-hour treatment with nitrous oxide - also known as laughing gas - can relieve symptoms of treatment-resistant depression for several weeks, according to a phase 2 clinical trial involving 28 participants. By showing that a 25% concentration of the gas still has therapeutic effects, the results suggest that lower concentrations of nitrous oxide could be useful against depression in the clinic while bringing a lower risk of side effects. Inhaled nitrous oxide is commonly used as a sedative agent in dental and medical offices, but the gas has also attracted attention as a possible treatment for depression. A previous study showed that nitrous oxide had marked ...

Curtin study finds aspirin takes the headache out of restoration

2021-06-09
New Curtin research has shown how a readily available, cheap and safe-to-use product found in the medicine cabinet of most homes could be the key to better ecological restoration practices with major benefits for the environment and agriculture. The study revealed that aspirin, which naturally occurs in the bark of the willow tree and other plants, can improve the survival of grass species important for ecological restoration and sustainable pasture when applied in a seed coating. Lead researcher Dr Simone Pedrini from the ARC Centre for Mine Site Restoration in Curtin's School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said salicylic acid has been used for its medicinal properties for more than 4000 years and its modern synthetic version, acetylsalicylic acid, or aspirin, is one ...

Rapamycin changes the way our DNA is stored

Rapamycin changes the way our DNA is stored
2021-06-09
Our genetic material is stored in our cells in a specific way to make the meter-long DNA molecule fit into the tiny cell nucleus of each body cell. An international team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, the CECAD Cluster of Excellence in Ageing research at the University of Cologne, the University College London and the University of Michigan have now been able to show that rapamycin, a well-known anti-ageing candidate, targets gut cells specifically to alter the way of DNA storage inside these cells, and thereby promotes gut health and longevity. This effect has been observed in flies and mice. The researchers believe this finding will open up new possibilities for targeted therapeutic interventions ...

New study underscores the role of race and poverty in COVID-19

2021-06-09
BOSTON - A new analysis by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) offers a novel perspective on the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has had on people of color, low-income populations, and other structurally disadvantaged groups. Their findings, published in a research letter to the END ...

Study shows new links between high fat diets and colon cancer

2021-06-09
For decades, physicians and dieticians have urged people to limit their intake of high fat foods, citing links to poor health outcomes and some of the leading causes of death in the U.S., such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dietary components high in saturated fats such as red meat are thought to be risk factors for colon cancer. Diet is thought to strongly influence the risk of colorectal cancer, and changes in food habits might reduce up to 70% of this cancer burden. Other known epidemiological risk factors are family history, inflammatory bowel disease, ...

SARS-CoV-2 detectable -- though likely not transmissible -- on hospital surfaces

SARS-CoV-2 detectable -- though likely not transmissible -- on hospital surfaces
2021-06-09
Watching what was happening around the world in early 2020, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers knew their region would likely soon be hit with a wave of patients with COVID-19, the infection caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. They wondered how the virus persists on surfaces, particularly in hospitals, and they knew they had only a small window of time to get started if they wanted to capture a snapshot of the "before" situation -- before patients with the infection were admitted. After a call late one Sunday night, a team assembled in the ...

Acoustical evolution increases battle between predator, prey

Acoustical evolution increases battle between predator, prey
2021-06-09
MELVILLE, N.Y., June 9, 2021 -- In the evolutionary battle between hunter and hunted, sound plays an integral part in the success or failure of the hunt. In the case of bats vs. moths, the insects are using acoustics against their winged foes. During the 180th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which will be held virtually June 8-10, Thomas Neil, from the University of Bristol, will discuss how moth wings have evolved in composition and structure to help them create anti-bat defenses. The session, "Moth wings are acoustic metamaterials," will take place Wednesday, June 9, at 1 p.m. Eastern U.S. Nocturnal moths ...

Pandemic quarantine acoustically contributes to mental, physical health degradation

2021-06-09
MELVILLE, N.Y., June 9, 2021 -- The prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the interaction restrictions created widespread lockdown fatigue and increased social tension in multiunit housing. But small improvements in quality-of-life routines may help people cope with the health restrictions better than they previously could. During the 180th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which will be held virtually June 8-10, Braxton Boren, from American University, will discuss noise prevention techniques and the use of alterative acoustic stimulation to help those who find themselves in pandemic-related lockdowns. The session, "The Soundscape of Quarantine," will take place Wednesday, June 9, at 1:45 p.m. Eastern U.S. While there have been studies about ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Genetic causes of cerebral palsy uncovered through whole-genome sequencing

Modesty and boastfulness – perception depends on usual performance

Do sweeteners increase your appetite? New evidence from randomised controlled trial says no 

Women with obesity do not need to gain weight during pregnancy, new study suggests

Individuals with multiple sclerosis face substantially greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, despite high rates of vaccination

Study shows obesity in childhood associated with a more than doubling of risk of developing multiple sclerosis in early adulthood

Rice Emerging Scholars Program receives $2.5M NSF grant to boost STEM education

Virtual rehabilitation provides benefits for stroke recovery

Generative AI develops potential new drugs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Biofuels could help island nations survive a global catastrophe, study suggests

NJIT research team discovering how fluids behave in nanopores with NSF grant

New study shows association of historical housing discrimination and shortfalls in colon cancer treatment

Social media use may help to empower plastic surgery patients

Q&A: How to train AI when you don't have enough data

Wayne State University researchers uncover potential treatment targets for Zika virus-related eye abnormalities

Discovering Van Gogh in the wild: scientists unveil a new gecko species

Small birds spice up the already diverse diet of spotted hyenas in Namibia

Imaging detects transient “hypoxic pockets” in the mouse brain

Dissolved organic matter could be used to track and improve the health of freshwaters

Indoor air quality standards in public buildings would boost health and economy, say international experts

Positive associations between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

New imaging method illuminates oxygen's journey in the brain

Researchers discover key gene for toxic alkaloid in barley

New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects

Bidirectional link between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

Cell division quality control ‘stopwatch’ uncovered

Vaccine protects cattle from bovine tuberculosis, may eliminate disease

Andrew Siemion to receive the SETI Institute’s 2024 Drake Award

New study shows how the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy proves effective for locally advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma

[Press-News.org] Gender differentiates how facial expressions are processed in the brains of alcoholics
Findings suggest that clinicians, educators and public health officials should approach different prevention and treatment strategies for men and women