Alcohol and the Brain

Abstract

Alcohol works on the brain to produce its desired effects, e.g., sociability and intoxication, and hence the brain is an important organ for exploring subsequent harms. These come in many different forms such as the consequences of damage during intoxication, e.g., from falls and fights, damage from withdrawal, damage from the toxicity of alcohol and its metabolites and altered brain structure and function with implications for behavioral processes such as craving and addiction. On top of that are peripheral factors that compound brain damage such as poor diet, vitamin deficiencies leading to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Prenatal alcohol exposure can also have a profound impact on brain development and lead to irremediable changes of fetal alcohol syndrome. This chapter briefly reviews aspects of these with a particular focus on recent brain imaging results. Cardiovascular effects of alcohol that lead to brain pathology are not covered as they are dealt with elsewhere in the volume.

Genetic Variability of Incretin Receptors and Alcohol Dependence: A Pilot Study

“…Alcohol dependence leads to decreased quality of life for patients and their relatives and presents a considerable burden to society ( Carvalho et al, 2019 ; Klausen et al, 2022 ). Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse used to be separate disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV), whereas, in DSM-V, they are integrated into one broader category of alcohol use disorder (AUD) which includes sub-classifications, depending on the severity of the symptoms ( Kathryn Mchugh and Weiss, 2019 ; Nutt et al, 2021 ). The stages of dependence can be divided into the acute and chronic state, followed by short-term and long-term abstinence.…”

Sex-Related Differences in Voluntary Alcohol Intake and mRNA Coding for Synucleins in the Brain of Adult Rats Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol

“…Considering that dopaminergic imbalance in the brain can be one of the determinants of high alcohol motivation [ 19 , 20 ], and synucleins may be critically involved in regulation of dopaminergic neurons [ 8 ] here we studied alterations in synucleins mRNA level in specific brain areas of adult male and female rats affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. It was of particular importance to focus on the sex-dependent alterations in gene expression which might provide more insight into the problem of sex differences in response to alcohol intake both in humans [ 21 , 22 ] and animal models of alcoholism [ 23 , 24 ].…”

The Impact of Alcoholic Beverages on Human Health

“…The pain of alcohol is indicated in the collection of papers in this special issue: ethanol in alcoholic beverages is toxic to human health, causing 7.1% of all deaths amongst those aged less than 70 years (two million deaths a year), with the three top causes of death being cirrhosis of the liver, road injuries, and tuberculosis [1]. In addition, through a combination of brain damage due to consuming alcohol and genetic predisposition, some 4% of adults experience what is termed alcohol dependence, a complex behavioural syndrome that has at its core the inability to control alcohol consumption despite adverse social, occupational or health consequences [2].…”

“…Additionally, even for people who run into problems, including alcohol dependence, there seems a lack of care and treatment. As Nutt and colleagues point out, it remains the case that, to date, only three pharmacotherapies are licensed for alcohol dependence and only 9% of such individuals receive such treatment [2]; there is simply no moral outrage from non-governmental organizations.…”