Longitudinal Mapping of Gyral and Sulcal Patterns of Cortical Thickness and Brain Volume Regain during Early Alcohol Abstinence

Abstract

We explored brain volume recovery in terms of cortical thickness (CTh; gyral, sulcal pattern) and surface area (SA), as well as subcortical volume recovery in the first 2 weeks of abstinence in 49 alcohol-dependent patients (ADPs). A widespread reduction of CTh in ADPs at day 1 of abstinence compared to healthy controls, with more pronounced differences in sulci relative to gyri was found. After 2 weeks of abstinence, partial recovery to varying degrees of CTh loss in ADPs was observed for several regions. The longitudinal CTh changes were greater in sulci than in gyri of affected regions. No longitudinal change in SAs and subcortical volumes was found. Alterations of CTh contribute to brain volume loss in alcoholism and recovery during early abstinence. Sulci seem to be more vulnerable to excessive alcohol consumption and to drive abstinence-induced volume recovery. During the initial 2 weeks of abstinence no subcortical volume regain was observed. Either the time span was too short or the lower subcortical volume could represent a predisposing trait marker.

Imaging resilience and recovery in alcohol dependence

“…Partial recovery of cortical thickness was also found after only 2 weeks of sobriety with full normalization seen in medial OFC and rostral ACC. Regeneration of sulci was more pronounced here in all affected brain areas than in gyri . Another study showed significant normalization of hippocampal GM volume within the first 2 weeks of abstinence in AD, especially in those with greater withdrawal severity at baseline .…”

“…Interestingly, some studies did not find significant WM differences between AD and controls , although WM volume gain has been detected with abstinence. DTI is probably more sensitive to WM change than structural MRI, as detailed architecture of white matter tissue can be analyzed by visualizing molecule diffusion patterns .…”

“…We found 21 relevant studies investigating changes in brain structure during abstinence (, cf. Table ).…”

Contributions to Understanding the Neuropsychology of Alcoholism: An INS Legacy

“…In addition to ventricular shrinkage, she exhibited resolution of radiological evidence for central pontine myelinolysis, which if left untreated, can be fatal (Lampl & Yazdi, 2002;). In addition to single case studies, an ever-increasing number of longitudinal MRI studies on groups of alcoholics report significant changes in regional brain volumes (e.g., Cardenas, Studholme, Gazdzinski, Durazzo, & Meyerhoff, 2007;Rohlfing, Sullivan, & Pfefferbaum, 2006;Shear, Jernigan, & Butters, 1994;Wang et al, 2016;Yeh, Gazdzinski, Durazzo, Sjostrand, & Meyerhoff, 2007). An early study imaged alcoholics approximately a week after detoxification and again approximately 3 weeks later, at the end of a 28-day VA inpatient treatment regime with enforced abstinence.…”

Cigarette smoking is associated with cortical thinning in anterior frontal regions, insula and regions showing atrophy in early Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Cortical thickness is genetically and phenotypically distinct from cortical surface area and volume (Kremen et al, 2010; Panizzon et al, 2009; Winkler et al, 2010), and it is related to neurocognition in healthy adults and adolescents (Choi et al, 2008; Dickerson et al, 2008; Fjell et al, 2006; Schilling et al, 2013; Walhovd et al, 2006) and those with a cocaine use disorder (Makris et al, 2008). Cortical thickness is reputed to be more sensitive to neurodegenerative processes than cortical volumes (Hutton et al, 2009); therefore, this morphometric may increase the ability to detect more subtle structural abnormalities than volumes or density measures and/or be differentially affected by addictive disorders compared to volumes and surface area (Durazzo et al, 2011b; Wang et al, 2016). Taken together, cortical thickness may serve as a proxy for the integrity of cortical cytoarchitecture (Makris et al, 2007).…”