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Reduced Cortical Thickness in Abstinent Alcoholics and Association with Alcoholic Behavior
Author(s) -
Fortier Catherine B.,
Leritz Elizabeth C.,
Salat David H.,
Venne Jonathan R.,
Maksimovskiy Arkadiy L.,
Williams Victoria,
Milberg William P.,
McGlinchey Regina E.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01576.x
Subject(s) - atrophy , white matter , psychology , alcohol abuse , alcohol dependence , medicine , audiology , alcohol , psychiatry , magnetic resonance imaging , biology , radiology , biochemistry
Background: Chronic misuse of alcohol results in widespread damage to the brain. Prior morphometric studies have examined cortical atrophy in individuals with alcoholism; however, no previous studies have examined alcohol‐associated atrophy using cortical thickness measurements to obtain regional mapping of tissue loss across the full cortical surface. Methods: We compared cortical thickness measures from 31 abstinent individuals with a history of prior alcohol abuse to 34 healthy nonalcoholic control participants (total sample size = 65). Cortical surface models were created from high‐resolution T1‐weighted images, and cortical thickness was then estimated as the distance between the gray matter/white matter boundary and the outer cortical surface. Results: Abstinent alcoholics showed reduced whole‐brain thickness as compared to nonalcoholic participants. Decreases in thickness were found bilaterally in (i) superior frontal, (ii) precentral, (iii) postcentral, (iv) middle frontal, (v) middle/superior temporal, (vi) middle temporal, and (vii) lateral occipital cortical regions. Decreased cortical thickness in the alcoholic group was associated with severity of alcohol abuse. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate widespread reduction in cortical thickness as a consequence of chronic alcoholism, with most severe reductions in frontal and temporal brain regions.