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Understanding Alcohol's Effects on the Brain and Body

This study aims to understand how your brain, hormones (like cortisol), and immune system (like interleukin-6) react to alcohol cues, such as pictures of alcoholic drinks. Researchers will compare these reactions to pictures of water in people who regularly drink alcohol, including those who binge drink and those who drink moderately. The goal is to learn how these reactions relate to drinking behaviors, which could help develop new treatments for Alcohol Use Disorders. You would complete questionnaires, have MRI scans (which look at blood flow in your brain), and give blood samples. After each MRI, you'll participate in an "Alcohol Taste Test" involving beer.

Study design
This interventional study plans to enroll 234 participants. It is not specified if it is randomized or blinded.
What's involved
You would complete psychological questionnaires, have MRI scans with blood draws across multiple visits, and participate in an Alcohol Taste Test involving beer after each MRI scan.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Your brain activity, hormone levels, and alcohol craving/consumption will be measured at the start, after 1 year, and after 2 years.

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NCT07220148

Multimodal Immune and Neuroendocrine Assessment in Drinkers

Not Yet Recruiting
NAAges 21–25InterventionalBasic science
Auburn University
~234 participants
Updated 2025-10-23 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Alcohol Cue Reactivity and Laboratory Alcohol Administration Paradigm

At a glance

Recruiting sites
0 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Neural cue reactivity to alcohol stimuli (fMRI BOLD response)
Measured over Baseline, 1-year follow-up, 2-year follow-up.
+2 more outcomes measured

Conditions

Alcohol Drinking

Explore related trials

Alcohol Consumption

Where it's being run

1 sites across 1 states
Alabama1

Who to contact

Sara Blaine, PhD
[email protected]
6103041056
Email the study team

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Do you actually qualify for this trial?

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Male and Females between the ages of 21-25
able to read and write in English and complete study evaluations
able to provide negative breathalyzer and negative toxicology screenings for substances at all study appointments
able to provide written and verbal consent.
Must be a beer drinker (not exclusively), to ensure subjects are not averse to the taste of beverages presented in the ATT
BMI of 18-35

Exclusion

Any psychotic disorder or current psychiatric symptoms requiring specific attention, including active symptoms of psychosis or suicidal/homicidal ideation
meets criteria for current or past moderate or severe substance use disorder
women who are pregnant or lactating
inability to give informed consent
any contraindications for MRI (e.g., medical devices in the body, claustrophobia, etc)
current PTSD or acute stress disorder
other illicit drug use as determined by a urine drug screen

What this trial measures

  • Neural cue reactivity to alcohol stimuli (fMRI BOLD response)Baseline, 1-year follow-up, 2-year follow-up.

    Change in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) activation to alcohol versus neutral cues in regions of interest (e.g., medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, striatum) measured using 7 Tesla functional MRI.

  • Cortisol and IL-6 reactivity to alcohol cuesBaseline, 1-year follow-up, 2-year follow-up.

    Change in plasma cortisol and interleukin-6 concentrations (pg/mL) from pre- to post-cue exposure in the laboratory alcohol administration session.

  • Alcohol craving and consumption following cue exposureBaseline, 1-year follow-up, 2-year follow-up.

    Alcohol craving ratings on the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (1-7 visual analog scale, high scores mean worse outocme) and total volume of alcohol consumed (mL) during the Alcohol Taste Test following cue exposure.