title: Decreased white matter integrity in fronto-occipital fasciculus bundles: relation to visual information processing in alcohol-dependent subjects.
abstract: Chronic alcohol abuse is characterized by impaired cognitive abilities with a more severe deficit in visual than in verbal functions. Neuropathologically, it is associated with widespread brain structural compromise marked by gray matter shrinkage, ventricular enlargement, and white matter degradation. The present study sought to increase current understanding of the impairment of visual processing abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects, and its correlation with white matter microstructural alterations, using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). To that end, a DTI study was carried out on 35 alcohol-dependent subjects and 30 healthy male control subjects. Neuropsychological tests were assessed for visual processing skills and deficits were reported as raw dysfunction scores (rDyS). Reduced FA (fractional anisotropy) and increased MD (mean diffusivity) were observed bilaterally in inferior and superior fronto-occipital fasciculus (FOF) fiber bundles. A significant inverse correlation in rDyS and FA values was observed in these fiber tracts whereas a positive correlation of these scores was found with the MD values. Our results suggest that FOF fiber bundles linking the frontal lobe to occipital lobe might be related to visual processing skills. This is the first report of an alteration of the white matter microstructure of FOF fiber bundles that might have functional consequences for visual processing in alcohol-dependent subjects who exhibit no neurological complications.
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO, Brig. S.K. Mazumdar Marg, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi 110054, India.
authors.forename: Deepika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bagga
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO, Brig. S.K. Mazumdar Marg, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi 110054, India.
authors.forename: Aakansha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO, Brig. S.K. Mazumdar Marg, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi 110054, India.
authors.forename: Archana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumari
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO, Brig. S.K. Mazumdar Marg, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi 110054, India.
authors.forename: Prabhjot
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt., Delhi 110010, India.
authors.forename: Debajyoti
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India.
authors.forename: Mohan Lal
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO, Brig. S.K. Mazumdar Marg, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi 110054, India.
authors.forename: Subash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khushu
authors.affiliation: NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO, Brig. S.K. Mazumdar Marg, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi 110054, India. Electronic address: namita23m@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Namita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Alcoholism; Brain; Diffusion tensor imaging; Fractional anisotropy; Fronto-occipital fasciculus; Mean diffusivity