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Anxiety During Abstinence in AUD

RecruitingEarly phase 1Healthy volunteers welcome

Neural Mechanisms of Anxiety During Early and Protracted Abstinence in Alcohol Use Disorder

Who can join

Ages 21 to 55 · All sexes · Healthy volunteers welcome

Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria (Participants with Alcohol use Disorder):

1. Between the ages of 21 and 55
2. Right-handed
3. Able to perform informed consent and comply with study
4. Seeking treatment for AUD
5. Meets The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for AUD of at least moderate severity (\>3 symptoms)

Inclusion Criteria (Healthy Volunteer Participants):

1. Between the ages of 21 and 55
2. Right-handed
3. Able to perform informed consent and comply with study
4. Report drinking an average of fewer than 8/15 standard drinks per week for women/men and no more than 1 HDD (heavy drinking days) during the previous 28 days.

Exclusion Criteria (Participants with Alcohol use Disorder):

1. Neurological, medical or other conditions that would interfere with MRI scanning (e.g., history of stroke, seizure, brain tumor, brain infection, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, dementia, non MRI-compliant metal device in body, pregnancy, claustrophobia, color blindness, severe hearing impairment, weight\>300 lbs., wheelchair-bound, tattoos as indicated by the guidelines established by the Zuckerman Institute MRI unit: https://mr.research.columbia.edu/
2. DSM 5 diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
3. Any non-AUD psychiatric disorder that may, according to the investigator's judgment, require treatment over the course of the study
4. Significant suicide or violence risk
5. Currently taking psychotropic medication
6. Current substance use disorder other than AUD, tobacco use disorder or mild cannabis use disorder
7. Currently pregnant, attempting to become pregnant or nursing
8. Sufficiently socially unstable as to preclude participation (e.g. homeless).
9. Known history of allergy, intolerance, or hypersensitivity to disulfiram or its derivates
10. Contraindications to disulfiram treatment (e.g. liver disease, kidney disease, cardiac disease, seizure disorder, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, pregnancy or lactation, allergy to disulfiram or thiuram derivatives)
11. Currently taking medications containing alcohol, metronidazole, isoniazid, paraldehyde, phenytoin, warfarin, or theophylline.
12. Treatment with concomitant medications that might interfere with disulfiram
13. A history of alcohol withdrawal seizures, delirium tremens or resistant alcohol withdrawal
14. Current moderate or severe alcohol withdrawal (CIWA \>9 with BAL\<0.05)
15. History of prior disulfiram treatment failure
16. Being abstinent for \> 7 days at the time of screening

Exclusion Criteria (Healthy Volunteer Participants):

1. Neurological, medical or other conditions that would interfere with MRI scanning (e.g., history of stroke, seizure, brain tumor, brain infection, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, dementia, non MRI-compliant metal device in body, pregnancy, claustrophobia, color blindness, severe hearing impairment, weight\>300 lbs., wheelchair- bound, tattoos as indicated by the guidelines established by the ZI MRI unit: https://mr.research.columbia.edu/
2. DSM 5 diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder
3. Any psychiatric disorder that may, according to the investigator's judgment, require treatment over the course of the study
4. Significant suicide or violence risk
5. Currently taking psychotropic medication
6. Current substance use disorder other than tobacco use disorder or mild cannabis use disorder
7. Currently pregnant, attempting to become pregnant or nursing
8. Sufficiently socially unstable as to preclude participation (e.g., homeless).
9. A diagnosis of AUD of any severity

About the study

The goal of this study is to better understand the underlying neurobiological basis of anxiety that emerges during abstinence in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. To characterize anxiety itself as well as anxiety related-neurobiological circuitry in early abstinence in AUD 2. To examine how anxiety and anxiety related-neurobiological circuitry change over the course of abstinence in AUD

Researchers will recruit both participants with AUD and healthy volunteers.

The participants with AUD will be prescribed disulfiram, a medication that helps participants with AUD stay abstinent. Healthy volunteers will not receive antabuse. Patients with AUD will undergo fMRI scanning both after 1 week and 3 months of disulfiram treatment. Healthy volunteers will undergo fMRI once.

What is being tested

Sponsor: Columbia University · Participants: 60 · Started: Sep 15, 2025

Contact the study team

Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT06793488

Locations in the U.S.

New YorkColumbia University Irving Medical Center, New York

Conditions

From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.