title: Reduced cortical thickness in abstinent alcoholics and association with alcoholic behavior.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic misuse of alcohol results in widespread damage to the brain. Prior morphometric studies have examined cortical atrophy in individuals with alcoholism; however, no previous studies have examined alcohol-associated atrophy using cortical thickness measurements to obtain regional mapping of tissue loss across the full cortical surface.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared cortical thickness measures from 31 abstinent individuals with a history of prior alcohol abuse to 34 healthy nonalcoholic control participants (total sample size = 65). Cortical surface models were created from high-resolution T1-weighted images, and cortical thickness was then estimated as the distance between the gray matter/white matter boundary and the outer cortical surface.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Abstinent alcoholics showed reduced whole-brain thickness as compared to nonalcoholic participants. Decreases in thickness were found bilaterally in (i) superior frontal, (ii) precentral, (iii) postcentral, (iv) middle frontal, (v) middle/superior temporal, (vi) middle temporal, and (vii) lateral occipital cortical regions. Decreased cortical thickness in the alcoholic group was associated with severity of alcohol abuse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate widespread reduction in cortical thickness as a consequence of chronic alcoholism, with most severe reductions in frontal and temporal brain regions.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts, USA. Catherine_Fortier@hms.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Catherine B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Fortier
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Leritz
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Salat
authors.forename: Jonathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Venne
authors.forename: Arkadiy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Maksimovskiy
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: William P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Milberg
authors.forename: Regina E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: McGlinchey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000473:pathology*; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013695:Temperance