Chapter 15 - Effects of Alcohol on the Corpus Callosum

Abstract

White matter atrophy is a widely described finding in chronic alcoholics and is related to the amount of ethanol consumed. The corpus callosum is the largest white matter tract in the brain and it becomes severely atrophied in alcoholics. The development of neuroimaging techniques have revealed marked atrophy of corpus callosum, and structural and metabolic alterations of the white matter, including axonal diameter, fiber density and altered myelination, confirming previous findings in postmortem studies. Pathogenesis of corpus callosum alterations include both an effect on myelin structure and synthesis combined with neuron loss with secondary axonal alteration. Several factors observed in chronic alcoholics, including direct effects of ethanol, protein-calorie malnutrition, alcohol-related liver disease, and hepatic encephalopathy, associated consumption of other drugs, micronutrient deficiencies, increased inflammation and oxidative damage, and apoptosis may all play a role and will be briefly reviewed in this chapter.