title: Gender dimorphism of brain reward system volumes in alcoholism.
abstract: The brain's reward network has been reported to be smaller in alcoholic men compared to nonalcoholic men, but little is known about the volumes of reward regions in alcoholic women. Morphometric analyses were performed on magnetic resonance brain scans of 60 long-term chronic alcoholics (ALC; 30 men) and 60 nonalcoholic controls (NC; 29 men). We derived volumes of total brain, and cortical and subcortical reward-related structures including the dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC), orbitofrontal, and cingulate cortices, and the temporal pole, insula, amygdala, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens septi (NAc), and ventral diencephalon (VDC). We examined the relationships of the volumetric findings to drinking history. Analyses revealed a significant gender interaction for the association between alcoholism and total reward network volumes, with ALC men having smaller reward volumes than NC men and ALC women having larger reward volumes than NC women. Analyses of a priori subregions revealed a similar pattern of reward volume differences with significant gender interactions for DLPFC and VDC. Overall, the volume of the cerebral ventricles in ALC participants was negatively associated with duration of abstinence, suggesting decline in atrophy with greater length of sobriety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA; VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA. Electronic address: kslays@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Kayle S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA; VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA; Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
authors.forename: Marlene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oscar-Berman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Olivier J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Barthelemy
authors.affiliation: Center for Morphometric Analysis, and Athinoula A. Martinos Center, Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: George M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.affiliation: Radiology Computer Aided Diagnostics Laboratory, and Center for Morphometric Analysis, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Gordon J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Center for Morphometric Analysis, and Athinoula A. Martinos Center, Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Makris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D064829:Alcohol Abstinence / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004027:Diencephalon / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D012201:Reward; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Abstinence; Alcohol; Brain morphometry; Drinking history; MRI; Reward network; Sex