title: Reduced anterior insula, enlarged amygdala in alcoholism and associated depleted von Economo neurons.
abstract: The insula, a structure involved in higher order representation of interoceptive states, has recently been implicated in drug craving and social stress. Here, we performed brain magnetic resonance imaging to measure volumes of the insula and amygdala, a structure with reciprocal insular connections, in 26 alcohol-dependent patients and 24 healthy volunteers (aged 22-56 years, nine females in each group). We used an established morphometry method to quantify total and regional insular volumes. Volumetric measurements of the amygdala were obtained using a model-based segmentation/registration tool. In alcohol-dependent patients, anterior insula volumes were bilaterally reduced compared to healthy volunteers (left by 10%, right by 11%, normalized to total brain volumes). Furthermore, alcohol-dependent patients, compared with healthy volunteers, had bilaterally increased amygdala volumes. The left amygdala was increased by 28% and the right by 29%, normalized to total brain volumes. Post-mortem studies of the anterior insula showed that the reduced anterior insular volume may be associated with a population of von Economo neurons, which were 60% diminished in subjects with a history of alcoholism (n = 6) as compared to subjects without a history of alcoholism (n = 6) (aged 32-56 years, all males). The pattern of neuroanatomical change observed in our alcohol-dependent patients might result in a loss of top-down control of amygdala function, potentially contributing to impaired social cognition as well as an inability to control negatively reinforced alcohol seeking and use.
authors.affiliation: 1 Section on Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Vladimir V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Senatorov
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Ruslan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Damadzic
authors.affiliation: 1 Section on Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Claire L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Melanie L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Schwandt
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: 1 Section on Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Hommer
authors.affiliation: 2 Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heilig
authors.affiliation: 1 Section on Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA rezam@nih.gov.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Momenan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MRI; alcoholism; amygdala; insula; von Economo neurons