Methamphetamine users show greater than normal age‐related cortical gray matter loss

Nakama, Helenna; Chang, Linda; Fein, George; Shimotsu, Ryan; Jiang, Caroline S.; Ernst, Thomas

doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03433.x

Cited by 100 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…A study of healthy individuals found that smaller gray matter volume in the left and right orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex correlated with higher impulsivity, measured with the BIS (Matsuo et al, 2009). In our study, the caudal middle frontal volume was smaller in the METH users compared to the CON, which is consistent with others who similarly found smaller frontal gray matter volumes in METH users (Morales et al, 2012;Nakama et al, 2011).…”

Section: Thinner Frontal Cortices In Meth Userssupporting

confidence: 93%

“…However, METHdependent tobacco smokers had smaller gray matter volume in the orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus compared to CON and smaller gray matter volume in the insula compared to control nonsmokers (Morales et al, 2012). METH users also had smaller gray matter volumes (Nakama et al, 2011) in dorsolateral prefrontal, orbitofrontal, and thinner cortices (Thompson et al, 2004) compared to CON.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Hypothesis 1B: We also hypothesize a priori (Morales et al, 2012;Nakama et al, 2011;Schwartz et al, 2010) that METH users would have smaller and thinner cortices than CON in eight frontal cortical regions Aim 2. To assess if impulsivity is associated with brain morphometry in METH users and CON Hypothesis 2: We expect to see higher impulsivity scores in the METH users and an association between higher impulsivity scores and larger cortical brain measures across all participants based on previous studies (Lee et al, 2009;Schwartz et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Sex differences in impulsivity and brain volumes in methamphetamine users

Kogachi

Chang

Jiang

et al. 2015

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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Methamphetamine (METH) is an addictive stimulant adversely affecting brain structure and function. The aim of this study was to investigate impulsivity and brain structures, and sex differences on these variables, between METH users and non-drug user controls (CON). Structural MRI was performed in 124 subjects: 62 METH (ages 41.2±1.4 years, 34 males, 28 females) and 62 CON (ages 43.3±2.3 years, 36 males, 26 females). FreeSurfer 5.1 automated morphometry was used to measure brain morphometry. Subjects completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) questionnaire, which measures six factors. 2-way and repeated measures ANCOVA, co-varying for age, education, depressive symptoms, and intracranial volume, evaluated for independent and interactive effects of group status and sex. Relationships between METH usage characteristics, brain volumes, and impulsivity scores with significant group differences were examined with Pearson correlations. METH users had higher impulsivity scores in a majority of the factors (p<0.001-0.05). Male METH users had larger right superior frontal volumes compared to CON, while female METH users had smaller volumes compared to CON (p=0.02). Groupby-volume interactions were found in the right superior frontal (p=0.02) and right insula (p=0.02). In the male METH users, greater volumes in these regions were associated with less self-control. Female METH users had larger accumbens compared to female CON (p=0.03). METH users had consistently thinner left frontal cortical regions compared to CON (p=0.003). Consistent with prior reports, METH users were more impulsive and had thinner left frontal cortices than CON. Male METH users had larger superior frontal and insula volumes than CON, which was associated with less self-control (p=0.009-0.05). This was not seen in the female METH users, possibly due to a protective effect of estrogen from neuroinflammation in these regions. This suggests that men and women may be affected differently, and sex should be accounted for in brain morphometry studies.3

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Section: Thinner Frontal Cortices In Meth Userssupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sex differences in impulsivity and brain volumes in methamphetamine users

Kogachi

Chang

Jiang

et al. 2015

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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“…Such a prediction appears to be partly supported by recent studies suggesting that addictive drugs that increase DA release accelerate aging [72][73][74][75][76][77] . These studies have shown that chronic abusers of amphetamines, cocaine, and alcohol exhibit cognitive decline and greater cortical atrophy indicative of accelerated aging.…”

Section: Predictions Based On the Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 75%

Prefrontal cortical dopamine from an evolutionary perspective

Lee

Goto

2015

Neurosci. Bull.

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In this article, we propose the hypothesis that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) acquired neotenic development as a consequence of mesocortical dopamine (DA) innervation, which in turn drove evolution of the PFC into becoming a complex functional system. Accordingly, from the evolutionary perspective, decreased DA signaling in the PFC associated with such adverse conditions as chronic stress may be considered as an environmental adaptation strategy. Psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder may also be understood as environmental adaptation or a by-product of such a process that has emerged through evolution in humans. To investigate the evolutionary perspective of DA signaling in the PFC, domestic animals such as dogs may be a useful model.

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“…Electroencefalography, Event-Related Potentials and Magnetoencephalography are less specific and, therefore, mostly used to exclude neurological conditions in clinical practice or for research purposes (Cohen & Cuffin, 1983). Medication, drug or alcohol abuse and genetic/epigenetic influence represent major confounding factors (Nakama et al, 2011;Schulte et al, 2010). On the other side, following the biopsychosocial model for psychiatric disorders, functional neuroimaging could help understanding the complex interaction between environmental stressors, genetic risk and precipitating events in the plasticity of neural circuitry and consequently in clinical symptoms.…”

Section: Functional Neuroimagingmentioning

confidence: 99%