Benjamin L Thompson1,2, Nasim Maleki2,3,4, John F Kelly3,4, Karla Therese L Sy5, Marlene Oscar-Berman2,6. 1. Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. 2. Psychology Research Service, VA Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA. 3. Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. 4. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 5. Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. 6. Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Psychiatry and Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recovery from alcohol use disorders (AUDs) consists of salutary changes in behavior and affect. While evidence suggests that recovery-related behavioral changes, such as abstinence, emerge in tandem with both neural and affective changes, the precise relationships among these changes are unknown. To understand these relationships, we examined associations between the duration of abstinence (DOA), affective states, and neuroimaging-based structural measures of the brain reward system (BRS) in AUD men (AUDM ) and AUD women (AUDW ). METHODS: Participants were community respondents from the Boston area comprising right-handed abstinent individuals with AUD (n = 60; 30 men) and controls without AUD (NC; n = 60; 29 men). Multivariate linear regressions compared short-/mid-term abstainers (≤5 years), long-term abstainers (>5 years), and the NC group on measures of BRS volume (3T magnetic resonance imaging scans) and measures of affect (Profile of Mood States [POMS]; Multiple Affect Adjective Check List [MAACL]; Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HRSD]). Analyses contrasted sex differences and accounted for age, education, drinking severity, and verbal IQ. RESULTS: Compared to the NC group, short-/mid-term abstainers exhibited larger posterior insular volume (total (β = 0.019, 95% CI: 0.004, 0.034)), higher negative affect (POMS Mood Disturbance (β = 27.8, 95% CI: 11.56, 44.04), and lower positive affect (POMS Vigor (β = -4.89, 95% CI: -9.06, -0.72)). Compared to the NC group, Long-term abstainers exhibited significantly smaller volumes of aggregate anterior cingulate cortex (β = -0.06, 95% CI: -0.113, -0.008) and higher HRSD scores (β = 1.56, 95% CI: 0.14, 2.98). Relative to AUDM , AUDW exhibited significantly larger right anterior insular volumes (β = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.06) and significantly greater MAACL Positive Affect scores (β = 7.56, 95% CI: 0.59, 11.55) in association with DOA. CONCLUSIONS: We found that differences in abstinence from alcohol were correlated with differences in both neural recovery and affective dimensions of recovery from AUDs. The observed sex differences extend evidence of dimorphic effects of AUDs and recovery on brain structure and function. Future longitudinal research will test inferences concerning the directionality of these relationships.
BACKGROUND: Recovery from alcohol use disorders (AUDs) consists of salutary changes in behavior and affect. While evidence suggests that recovery-related behavioral changes, such as abstinence, emerge in tandem with both neural and affective changes, the precise relationships among these changes are unknown. To understand these relationships, we examined associations between the duration of abstinence (DOA), affective states, and neuroimaging-based structural measures of the brain reward system (BRS) in AUD men (AUDM ) and AUD women (AUDW ). METHODS: Participants were community respondents from the Boston area comprising right-handed abstinent individuals with AUD (n = 60; 30 men) and controls without AUD (NC; n = 60; 29 men). Multivariate linear regressions compared short-/mid-term abstainers (≤5 years), long-term abstainers (>5 years), and the NC group on measures of BRS volume (3T magnetic resonance imaging scans) and measures of affect (Profile of Mood States [POMS]; Multiple Affect Adjective Check List [MAACL]; Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HRSD]). Analyses contrasted sex differences and accounted for age, education, drinking severity, and verbal IQ. RESULTS: Compared to the NC group, short-/mid-term abstainers exhibited larger posterior insular volume (total (β = 0.019, 95% CI: 0.004, 0.034)), higher negative affect (POMS Mood Disturbance (β = 27.8, 95% CI: 11.56, 44.04), and lower positive affect (POMS Vigor (β = -4.89, 95% CI: -9.06, -0.72)). Compared to the NC group, Long-term abstainers exhibited significantly smaller volumes of aggregate anterior cingulate cortex (β = -0.06, 95% CI: -0.113, -0.008) and higher HRSD scores (β = 1.56, 95% CI: 0.14, 2.98). Relative to AUDM , AUDW exhibited significantly larger right anterior insular volumes (β = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.06) and significantly greater MAACL Positive Affect scores (β = 7.56, 95% CI: 0.59, 11.55) in association with DOA. CONCLUSIONS: We found that differences in abstinence from alcohol were correlated with differences in both neural recovery and affective dimensions of recovery from AUDs. The observed sex differences extend evidence of dimorphic effects of AUDs and recovery on brain structure and function. Future longitudinal research will test inferences concerning the directionality of these relationships.
Authors: Bruce Fischl; André van der Kouwe; Christophe Destrieux; Eric Halgren; Florent Ségonne; David H Salat; Evelina Busa; Larry J Seidman; Jill Goldstein; David Kennedy; Verne Caviness; Nikos Makris; Bruce Rosen; Anders M Dale Journal: Cereb Cortex Date: 2004-01 Impact factor: 5.357
Authors: Nikos Makris; Gregory P Gasic; Larry J Seidman; Jill M Goldstein; David R Gastfriend; Igor Elman; Matthew D Albaugh; Steven M Hodge; David A Ziegler; Fred S Sheahan; Verne S Caviness; Ming T Tsuang; David N Kennedy; Steven E Hyman; Bruce R Rosen; Hans C Breiter Journal: Neuron Date: 2004-11-18 Impact factor: 17.173
Authors: Nora D Volkow; Gene-Jack Wang; Frank Telang; Joanna S Fowler; Jean Logan; Millard Jayne; Yeming Ma; Kith Pradhan; Christopher Wong Journal: J Neurosci Date: 2007-11-14 Impact factor: 6.167
Authors: Andreas Heinz; Thomas Siessmeier; Jana Wrase; Hans Georg Buchholz; Gerhard Gründer; Yoshitaka Kumakura; Paul Cumming; Mathias Schreckenberger; Michael N Smolka; Frank Rösch; Karl Mann; Peter Bartenstein Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2005-08 Impact factor: 18.112
Authors: Ana María Rivas-Grajales; Kayle S Sawyer; Sarina Karmacharya; George Papadimitriou; Joan A Camprodon; Gordon J Harris; Marek Kubicki; Marlene Oscar-Berman; Nikos Makris Journal: Neuroimage Clin Date: 2018-03-22 Impact factor: 4.881
Authors: Solal Bloch; Katherine M Holleran; Thomas L Kash; Elena M Vazey; Jennifer A Rinker; Christina L Lebonville; Krysten O'Hara; Marcelo F Lopez; Sara R Jones; Kathleen A Grant; Howard C Becker; Patrick J Mulholland Journal: Alcohol Date: 2022-02-15 Impact factor: 2.405