A wide-spread distinct pattern of cerebral atrophy in
patients with alcohol addiction revealed by voxel-based
morphometry
Sergei Mechtcheriakov 1*, Christian Brenneis 2, Karl Egger 3, Florian Koppelstaetter 4, Michael Schocke 3 and Josef Marksteiner 1
1 Medical University Innsbruck, Dept. of General Psychiatry, Austria
2 Medical University Innsbruck, Dept. of Neurology, Austria
3 Medical University Innsbruck, Dept. of Radiology I, Austria
4 Medical University Innsbruck, Dept. of Radiology II, Austria
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: s.mechtcheriakov{at}uibk.ac.at.
Accepted 18 October 2006
 | Abstract |
|---|
Patients with alcohol addiction show a number of
transient or persistent neurological and psychiatric
deficits. The complexity of these brain alterations
suggests that several brain areas are involved while the
definition of the brain alteration patterns is not yet
accomplished. In order to determine brain atrophy
patterns in patients with alcohol dependence we
performed voxel based morphometry (VBM) of grey and
white matter in 22 patients with alcohol dependence and
22 healthy controls matched for age and sex. In alcohol
dependent patients, VBM of grey matter revealed a
significant decrease of density (p<0.001) in precentral
gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, insular cortex, dorsal
hippocampus, anterior thalamus and cerebellum as
compared to control subjects. Reduced density of white
matter was found in the periventricular area, pons and
cerebellar pedunculi in alcohol patients. We conclude
that our findings provide the evidence that alcohol
addiction is associated with altered density of grey and
white matter of specific brain regions. This supports
the assumption that alcohol dependence is associated
with both local grey matter dysfunction and with altered
brain connectivity. We further suggest that VBM is an
effective tool for in vivo investigation of cerebral
atrophy in patients with alcohol addiction.
Keywords:
alcohol addiction, brain atrophy, frontal cortex, thalamus, voxel based morphometry
