From mother to child: orbitofrontal cortex gyrification and changes of drinking behaviour during adolescence.
Adolescence is a common time for initiation of alcohol use and alcohol use disorders. Importantly, the neuro-anatomical foundation for later alcohol-related problems may already manifest pre-natally, particularly due to smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy. In this context, cortical gyrification is an interesting marker of neuronal development but has not been investigated as a risk factor for adolescent alcohol use. On magnetic resonance imaging scans of 595 14-year-old adolescents from the IMAGEN sample, we computed whole-brain mean curvature indices to predict change in alcohol-related problems over the following 2 years. Change of alcohol use-related problems was significantly predicted from mean curvature in left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Less gyrification of OFC was associated with an increase in alcohol use-related problems over the next 2 years. Moreover, lower gyrification in left OFC was related to pre-natal alcohol exposure, whereas maternal smoking during pregnancy had no effect. Current alcohol use-related problems of the biological mother had no effect on offsprings' OFC gyrification or drinking behaviour. The data support the idea that alcohol consumption during pregnancy mediates the development of neuro-anatomical phenotypes, which in turn constitute a risk factor for increasing problems due to alcohol consumption in a vulnerable stage of life. Maternal smoking during pregnancy or current maternal alcohol/nicotine consumption had no significant effect. The OFC mediates behaviours known to be disturbed in addiction, namely impulse control and reward processing. The results stress the importance of pre-natal alcohol exposure for later increases in alcohol use-related problems, mediated by structural brain characteristics.
Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany.|University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf, Clinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Germany.
Simone
S
Kühn
Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany.
Charlotte
C
Witt
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Tobias
T
Banaschewski
Neurospin, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, France.
Alexis
A
Barbot
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, UK.
Gareth J
GJ
Barker
Universitaetsklinikum Hamburg Eppendorf, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK.
Christian
C
Büchel
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, UK.
Patricia J
PJ
Conrod
Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany.
Herta
H
Flor
Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Hugh
H
Garavan
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany.
Bernd
B
Ittermann
Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany.
Karl
K
Mann
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, INSERM Unit 1000 'Imaging and Psychiatry', University Paris Sud, France.|AP-HP Department of Adolescent Psychopathology and Medicine, Maison de Solenn, University Paris Descartes, France.
Jean-Luc
JL
Martinot
Rotman Research Institute, University of Toronto, Canada.|Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Canada.|School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, UK.
Tomas
T
Paus
Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany.
Marcella
M
Rietschel
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.|Neuroimaging Center, Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
Michael N
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5398-5569
MN
Smolka
Charité University Medicine, St Hedwig Krankenhaus, Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Germany.
Andreas
A
Ströhle
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany.
Rüdiger
R
Brühl
King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, UK.
Gunter
G
Schumann
Charité University Medicine, St Hedwig Krankenhaus, Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Germany.
Andreas
A
Heinz
University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf, Clinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Germany.|Charité University Medicine, St Hedwig Krankenhaus, Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Germany.
Jürgen
J
Gallinat
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012201:Reward; D012907:Smoking; D000066608:Underage Drinking
Adolescence; alcohol use; dependence; gyrification; maternal drinking