Corpus callosum, pons, and cortical white matter in alcoholic women.
BACKGROUND
To measure the effect of alcohol abuse on white matter brain macrostructure in women with alcoholism and to determine whether observed abnormalities interact with age.


METHODS
Quantitative measures of corpus callosum area, cortical white matter volume, and pons volume were derived from magnetic resonance imaging scans obtained from 34 women with DSM-III-R alcoholism (aged 28-64, mean 41 years) and 35 healthy women (aged 22-65, mean 42 years). Transverse relaxation time of the pons was also obtained.


RESULTS
No significant group differences in any brain measures were observed. However, in alcoholics greater length of sobriety was associated with more cortical white matter, and higher lifetime levels of alcohol consumption were associated with smaller volumes and prolonged transverse relaxation time in the pons.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite a lack of overall deficits in white matter macrostructural size in alcoholic women, certain white matter structures showed alcohol exposure vulnerability whereas others showed evidence of recovery with abstinence.
Pfefferbaum
Adolf
A
Neuroscience Program, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. dolf@synapse.sri.com
Rosenbloom
Margaret
M
Serventi
Kathleen L
KL
Sullivan
Edith V
EV
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000473:pathology; D011149:Pons / Q000473:pathology*