Sex Differences in the Effects of Alcohol on Brain Structure

Pfefferbaum, Adolf; Rosenbloom, Margaret J.; Deshmukh, Anjali; Sullivan, Edith V.

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.158.2.188

Cited by 209 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…These findings are supported by medical evidence which suggests that women are more sensitive to alcohol related brain/cognitive damage than men (Nixon, 1994;Hommer et al, 2001). Given the similarities in compensating brain activity found in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of heavy cannabis and alcohol users (Kananyama et al, 2004;Plefferbaum et al, 2001), we speculate that our results indicate a similar differential effect of cannabis on the cognitive abilities of males and females. sistent use that leads to lower educational attainment.…”

supporting

confidence: 56%

“…The correlation could be either positive or negative. 23 If the correlation is not accounted for the estimated effect of cannabis use on school leaving will be biased. In case of positive correlation the 22 The unobserved components are perfectly correlated if p 1 = p 4 = 0 or p 2 = p 3 = 0 in which case the distribution of unobserved heterogeneity has two points of support.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This would imply that conditional on the observed characteristics there are two types of individuals differing in inclination towards drugs use and school-leaving. 23 If positive, individuals who are susceptible to cannabis use are also susceptible to school leaving effect will be overestimated, while in the case of negative correlation the effect will be underestimated. Table 4 presents estimates of the bivariate duration model of the hazard of initiating cannabis use and the hazard of leaving formal education in which initiation at different ages is constrained to have the same effect on the hazard of leaving education.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why parents worry: Initiation into cannabis use by youth and their educational attainment

Ours

Williams

2009

Journal of Health Economics

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In this paper we use individual level data from the Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey to study the relationship between initiation into cannabis use and educational attainment. Using instrumental variable estimation and bivariate duration analysis we find that those initiating into cannabis use early in life are much more likely to dropout of school compared to those who start later on. Moreover, we find that the reduction in years of schooling depends on the age at which initiation occurs, and that it is larger for females than males.

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confidence: 56%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why parents worry: Initiation into cannabis use by youth and their educational attainment

Ours

Williams

2009

Journal of Health Economics

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“…Cortical morphology varies with age and with the pathological state of the patient (Kitagaki et al 1998;Symonds et al 1999;Resnick et al 2000;Narr et al 2001a,b;Tang et al 2001;Hardy and Selkoe 2002). Reductions in the volume of specific brain regions occur in certain diseases; they are particularly evident in Alzheimer's disease (Anderson and Hubbard 1981;Ulrich and Stahelin 1984;Najlerahim and Bowen 1988;Tanabe et al 1997;Salat et al 1999;Regeur 2000), alcoholism Kril 1985, 1986;Pfefferbaum et al 1997Pfefferbaum et al , 2001Hommer et al 2001) and alcoholic cerebellar degeneration (Ferrer et al 1984;Kril and Butterworth 1997) and may also occur in schizophrenia (Brown et al 1986;Nasrallah 1995;Lauriello et al 1997;Sullivan et al 1998;De Lisi 1999;Hulshoff-Pol et al 2002). Alterations in the relative proportions of neurones and glial cells can arise from altered brain pathology and can contribute to altered functional characteristics (Benes et al 1987).…”

Section: Tissue Dissectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochemical and molecular studies using human autopsy brain tissue

Hynd

Lewohl

Scott

et al. 2003

Journal of Neurochemistry

221

171

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The use of human brain tissue obtained at autopsy for neurochemical, pharmacological and physiological analyses is reviewed. RNA and protein samples have been found suitable for expression profiling by techniques that include RT-PCR, cDNA microarrays, western blotting, immunohistochemistry and proteomics. The rapid development of molecular biological techniques has increased the impetus for this work to be applied to studies of brain disease. It has been shown that most nucleic acids and proteins are reasonably stable postmortem. However, their abundance and integrity can exhibit marked intra-and intercase variability, making comparisons between case-groups difficult. Variability can reveal important functional and biochemical information. The correct interpretation of neurochemical data must take into account such factors as age, gender, ethnicity, medicative history, immediate ante-mortem status, agonal state and post-mortem and post-autopsy intervals. Here we consider issues associated with the sampling of DNA, RNA and proteins using human autopsy brain tissue in relation to various ante-and postmortem factors. We conclude that valid and practical measures of a variety of parameters may be made in human brain tissue, provided that specific factors are controlled.

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“…Aunque con algunos informes discrepantes 3,4 , la mayor parte de las investigaciones sugieren que las mujeres son más vulnerables a los efectos del alcohol, argumentando, entre otras, razones de orden metabólico y hormonal. En adolescentes y jóvenes, en un estudio reciente con una muestra de 14 a 17 años con problemas por abuso de alcohol, se informó de patrones de actividad cerebral más anómalos mediante RMNf (resonancia magnética nuclear funcional) en mujeres que estaban realizando pruebas de memoria de trabajo espacial 5 .…”

Section: Diferencias Sexualesunclassified

Alcohol y cerebro adolescente

Mahía¹

2009

Adicciones

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Binge Drinking (BD) pattern is firmly established among adolescents and young people. This pattern has raised a strong concern within the neuroscience community due to its possible impact on specific brain regions still maturing. Research with animal models demonstrates that BD may have serious structural and functional effects during these ages. Some regions like the prefrontal cortex or the hippocampus and the cognitive processes in which these structures play a role seem to be specific targets of alcohol. Results provided by the scarce studies carried out in humans support the evidence from previous animal experiments. However, we are far from being able to answer if this pattern of consumption has a special effect in the adolescent brain and what the short and long-term consequences are. Common limitations in human studies include the insufficient control of powerful confounding factors, the use of designs that does not allow differentiation between markers and effects, the use of reduced samples and the lack of replication studies. Although the innocuousness hypothesis is no longer sustained and experimental evidence has accumulated showing the risk associated with BD, results have been somewhat overinterpretated. The valuable contributions of cross-sectional designs should be complemented by the contributions of prospective longitudinal studies with appropriated sample sizes and a higher control of critical variables in order to identify short and long-term structural and neurocognitive consequences.Key words: alcohol, binge drinking, adolescence, brain, cognitive function.El patrón de consumo intensivo intermitente de alcohol (Binge Drinking) se ha consolidado entre adolescentes y jóvenes. Este patrón (BD) ha despertado una fuerte preocupación en la comunidad neurocientífica por su posible impacto en un cerebro aún en maduración. La investigación con modelos animales demuestra los graves efectos estructurales y funcionales que un patrón BD puede tener a estas edades. Algunas regiones como el cortex prefrontal y el hipocampo, de maduración más tardía, y los importantes procesos que éstas organizan, parecen diana especial de la acción del alcohol. Los escasos estudios realizados en humanos van en la dirección de lo adelantado por la investigación animal. Sin embargo, estamos lejos de poder responder si este patrón BD afecta de forma especial al cerebro adolescente y de precisar cuáles son sus consecuencias a corto y largo plazo. Son limitaciones habituales en los estudios el insuficiente control de poderosos factores de confusión, la utilización de diseños que no permiten diferenciar entre marcadores y efectos, el uso de muestras reducidas o la ausencia de réplicas. Aunque se hace insostenible una hipótesis de inocuidad y se acumula evidencia que nos advierte sobre los peligros de esta forma de consumo, se ha producido en general una cierta sobreinterpretación de los resultados. A la valiosa contribución realizada por estudios transversales debe seguir la de estudios longitudinales, en muestras de tamaño ap...

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Sex Differences in the Effects of Alcohol on Brain Structure

Abstract: Alcoholic men and women show different brain morphological deficits, relative to same-sex comparison subjects. However, age and alcoholism interact in both sexes, which puts all older alcoholics at particular risk for the negative sequelae of alcoholism.

Cited by 209 publications

References 37 publications

Why parents worry: Initiation into cannabis use by youth and their educational attainment

Why parents worry: Initiation into cannabis use by youth and their educational attainment

Biochemical and molecular studies using human autopsy brain tissue

Alcohol y cerebro adolescente

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