Abstract
Alcohol dependence follows a longitudinal course, from initiation to development of dependence, chronic intake, withdrawal, and often relapse. Advances in MRI technologies have enabled exploration of brain changes for each of these steps and, for example, has revealed widespread volume deficits in gray and white matter with a predilection for the prefrontal cortex. These structural changes are related to cognitive deficits that are themselves highly related to the difficulties of maintaining cessation. The technical advances and the availability of neuroimaging tools has allowed progress on the characterization of the effects of chronic and excessive alcohol on the human brain. Long-term alcohol consumption changes the brain and these changes may contribute to the maintenance of dependency. It is therefore difficult to distinguish causes from effects related to the use of alcohol disorders.
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