Extensive Gray Matter Volume Reduction and Correlations with Neuropsychological Performance in Alcohol Use Disorder Patients

Objective: Long term alcohol use results in varying degrees of deficits in cognitive functions. Although the neocortex, particularly the frontal lobe; limbic system and cerebellum are the brain regions most vulnerable to the toxic effects of alcohol, neural correlates of neuropsychological deficits have not been studied directly.

Methods: This voxel based morphometric (VBM) study examined the effect of duration and amount of alcohol exposure on gray matter (GM) volume and the relation between GM volumes and neuropsychological deficits in patients with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).

Results: Voxel-wise whole brain analysis showed extensive regional gray matter volume for AUD patients and GM volumes were inversely correlated to the amount of alcohol exposure. More importantly, there were statistically significant correlations between different indices of executive functioning and GM volumes.

Conclusion: These results indicate that dose-dependent alcohol effect on prefrontostriatal and temporal circuitries appears to be directly related to neurocognitive deficits seen in these patients.