title: Magnetic resonance imaging structural alterations in brain of alcohol abusers and its association with impulsivity.
abstract: Despite the suggestion that impulsivity plays a central role in the transfer from a recreational drug use to a substance use disorder, very few studies focused on neurobiological markers for addiction. This study aimed to identify volumetric alterations in a sample of patients with mild alcohol use disorder with a short history of alcohol use, compared with a control group, and also focused on its association with impulsivity levels. Most magnetic resonance imaging studies have focused on severe alcohol use disorder, formerly called alcohol-dependent patients, showing alcohol-related structural alterations and their association with alcohol use history variables but not with personality parameters like impulsivity. Our hypothesis is that our group of alcohol users may already display structural alterations especially in brain regions related to inhibitory control like medial-prefrontal regions, and that those structural alterations could be more associated to personality traits like impulsivity than to drug use variables. Our results clearly demonstrate that our population showed lower regional grey and white matter volumes in the medial-prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices, as well as higher regional white matter volume in the ventral striatum and the internal capsule. Volumetric alterations were associated to the Barratt's impulsivity score: the more impulsive the subjects, the lower the medial-prefrontal cortex grey matter volume.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, Spain.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asensio
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina y Odontología, Universidad Católica de Valencia 'San Vicente Mártir', Spain.
authors.forename: Julia L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Senabre
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina y Odontología, Universidad Católica de Valencia 'San Vicente Mártir', Spain.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.affiliation: Servicios Centrales, Hospital General de Castellón, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Beltran
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina y Odontología, Universidad Católica de Valencia 'San Vicente Mártir', Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Flores-Bellver
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina y Odontología, Universidad Católica de Valencia 'San Vicente Mártir', Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Barcia
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina y Odontología, Universidad Católica de Valencia 'San Vicente Mártir', Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Romero
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009929:Organ Size; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol; impulsivity; magnetic resonance imaging