Addiction Neurocircuitry and Negative Affect: A role for neuroticism in understanding amygdala connectivity and alcohol use disorder

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect neuroticism has on the relationship between alcohol use severity and amygdala connectivity. Previous studies have indicated that amygdala connectivity and negative affect play a role in the cycle of addiction, and that neuroticism, which shares similar qualities with negative affect, is also related to amygdala connectivity, but the role neuroticism plays in mediating the relationship between AUD and amygdala connectivity has not been examined. To complete this study, 158 participants (58 female) enrolled in studies through NIAAA (National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) underwent resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) scans. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to quantify alcohol use severity and the Revised NEO Personality Assessment (NEO PI-R) was used to quantify levels of neuroticism. A whole brain analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship of rs-fMRI amygdala connectivity with AUDIT and NEO neuroticism scores. A latent variable model (LVM) was used to measure the mediation effect of neuroticism on alcohol use severity and rs-fMRI amygdala connectivity. The whole brain analysis showed a positive relationship between right amygdala-right temporal fusiform gyrus connectivity and AUDIT scores and a negative relationship between left amygdala-left temporal parietal junction (TPJ) connectivity and NEO neuroticism scores. The indirect effect of neuroticism was significant for the LVMs of left amygdala connectivity with the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), posterior insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). These results suggest that personality plays an important role in the cycle of addiction.