Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies have documented that heightened impulsivity likely contributes to the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorders. However, there is still a lack of studies that comprehensively detected the brain changes associated with abnormal impulsivity in alcohol addicts. This study was designed to investigate the alterations in brain structure and functional connectivity associated with abnormal impulsivity in alcohol dependent patients.MethodsBrain structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging data as well as impulsive behavior data were collected from 20 alcohol dependent patients and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls respectively. Voxel-based morphometry was used to investigate the differences of grey matter volume, and tract-based spatial statistics was used to detect abnormal white matter regions between alcohol dependent patients and healthy controls. The alterations in resting-state functional connectivity in alcohol dependent patients were examined using selected brain areas with gray matter deficits as seed regions.ResultsCompared with healthy controls, alcohol dependent patients had significantly reduced gray matter volume in the mesocorticolimbic system including the dorsal posterior cingulate cortex, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, the medial prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex and the putamen, decreased fractional anisotropy in the regions connecting the damaged grey matter areas driven by higher radial diffusivity value in the same areas and decreased resting-state functional connectivity within the reward network. Moreover, the gray matter volume of the left medial prefrontal cortex exhibited negative correlations with various impulse indices.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that chronic alcohol dependence could cause a complex neural changes linked to abnormal impulsivity.
Highlights
Abnormal impulsivity is repeatedly mentioned to link with several psychiatric disorders including substance addiction according to diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) [1]
The gray matter volume of the left medial prefrontal cortex exhibited negative correlations with various impulse indices. These findings suggest that chronic alcohol dependence could cause a complex neural changes linked to abnormal impulsivity
There were no significant differences in age and smoking status between alcohol dependent patients (ADPs) and healthy controls (HCs), except for the difference in years of education (P < 0.05)
Summary
Abnormal impulsivity is repeatedly mentioned to link with several psychiatric disorders including substance addiction according to diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) [1]. There is still a lack of neuroimaging studies that comprehensively examined the brain changes associated with abnormal impulsivity in the context of alcohol dependence. Some other definition of impulsivity related impulsivity to risk taking, lack of planning and making up one’s mind quickly [5]. Taken together, these literatures suggest that impulsivity is multi-dimensional construct, and that different aspects of impulsivity may reflect separate processes [6]. Linking to the drug use and dependence, the most commonly identified processes are behavioral inhibition, impulsive decision making and risky taking. Previous studies have documented that heightened impulsivity likely contributes to the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorders. This study was designed to investigate the alterations in brain structure and functional connectivity associated with abnormal impulsivity in alcohol dependent patients
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