scholarly journals Evidence for a moderating effect of drinking severity but not HIV status on brain age in heavy episodic drinkers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan C Ipser ◽  
John Joska ◽  
Tatum Sevenoaks ◽  
Hetta Gouse ◽  
Carla Freeman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neurocognitive Impairment ◽  
Heavy Episodic Drinking ◽  
Hiv Status ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Age Gap ◽  
Brain Ageing ◽  
Brain Age

Background: Chronic HIV infection and alcohol use have been associated with brain changes and neurocognitive impairment. However, their combined effects are less well studied. We correlated measures of "brain age gap" (BAG) and neurocognitive impairment in participants with and without HIV/AIDS and heavy episodic drinking (HED). We predicted that BAG will be greater in PWH who engage in HED and that these effects will be particularly pronounced in frontoparietal and subcortical regions. Method: 69 participants were recruited from a community health centre in Cape Town: HIV-/HED- (N = 17), HIV+/HED- (N = 14), HIV-/HED+ (N = 21), and HIV+/HED+ (N = 17). Brain age gap (BAG) was derived from thickness, area and volumetric measurements from the whole brain or one of six brain regions. Linear regression models were employed to identify differences in BAG between patient groups and controls. Associations between BAG and clinical indicators of HIV and HED status were also tested using bivariate statistical methods. Results: Compared to controls, greater whole brain BAG was observed in HIV-/HED+ (Cohens d = 1.61, p < 0.001), and HIV+/HED+ (d = 1.52, p = 0.005) participants. Differences in BAG between patients and controls were observed subcortically, as for the cingulate and the parietal cortex. An exploratory analysis revealed that higher relative brain ageing in HED participants with the highest drinking scores (W = 66, p = 0.036) but did not vary as a function of nadir CD4 count or current HIV viral load. Conclusion: The association between heavy episodic drinking and BAG, independent of HIV status, points to the importance of screening for and targeting alcohol use disorders in primary care. Our findings also point to the utility of assessing the contribution of brain regions to the BAG.

scholarly journals Family history of alcohol use disorder is associated with brain structural and functional changes in healthy first-degree relatives

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 107-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Filippi ◽  
Nicolas Hoertel ◽  
Eric Artiges ◽  
Guillaume Airagnes ◽  
Christophe Guérin-Langlois ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family History ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
History Of

Abstract Background: Neuroimaging studies of vulnerability to Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) have identified structural and functional variations which might reflect inheritable features in alcohol-naïve relatives of AUD individuals (FH+) compared to controls having no such family history (FH-). However, prior research did not simultaneously account for childhood maltreatment, any clinically significant disorder and maternal AUD. Therefore, we mainly aimed to investigate the brain structure and reward-related neural activations (fMRI), using whole-brain analysis in FH+ young adults with no prevalent confounders. Methods: 46 FH+ and 45 FH- male and female participants had no severe childhood maltreatment exposure, neither any psychiatric disorder or AUD, nor a prenatal exposure to maternal AUD. We used a 3 T MRI coupled with a whole brain voxel-based method to compare between groups the grey matter volumes and activations in response to big versus small wins during a Monetary Incentive Delay task. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire score was used as confounding variable in the analyses to account for the remaining variance between groups. Results: Compared to FH- controls, FH+ participants had smaller grey matter volumes in the frontal and cingulate regions as well as in the bilateral nucleus accumbens and right insula. The FH+ participants’ fMRI datasets denoted a blunted activation in the middle cingulum with respect to FH- controls’ during the processing of reward magnitude, and a greater activation in the anterior cingulum in response to anticipation of a small win. Conclusions: Family history of alcohol use disorder is linked to structural and functional variations including brain regions involved in reward processes.

scholarly journals Lower regional grey matter in alcohol use disorders: evidence from a voxel-based meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Li ◽  
Hua Yu ◽  
Yihao Liu ◽  
Ya-jing Meng ◽  
Xiao-jing Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Middle Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Cingulate Gyrus ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Mapping Approach ◽  
The Right ◽  
Left Middle

Abstract Background Previous research using whole-brain neuroimaging techniques has revealed structural differences of grey matter (GM) in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients. However, some of the findings diverge from other neuroimaging studies and require further replication. The quantity of relevant research has, thus far, been limited and the association between GM and abstinence duration of AUD patients has not yet been systematically reviewed. Methods The present research conducted a meta-analysis of voxel-based GM studies in AUD patients published before Jan 2021. The study utilised a whole brain-based d-mapping approach to explore GM changes in AUD patients, and further analysed the relationship between GM deficits, abstinence duration and individual differences. Results The current research included 23 studies with a sample size of 846 AUD patients and 878 controls. The d-mapping approach identified lower GM in brain regions including the right cingulate gyrus, right insula and left middle frontal gyrus in AUD patients compared to controls. Meta-regression analyses found increasing GM atrophy in the right insula associated with the longer mean abstinence duration of the samples in the studies in our analysis. GM atrophy was also found positively correlated with the mean age of the samples in the right insula, and positively correlated with male ratio in the left middle frontal gyrus. Conclusions GM atrophy was found in the cingulate gyrus and insula in AUD patients. These findings align with published meta-analyses, suggesting they are potential deficits for AUD patients. Abstinence duration, age and gender also affect GM atrophy in AUD patients. This research provides some evidence of the underlying neuroanatomical nature of AUD.

scholarly journals Associations between alcohol use and accelerated biological ageing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunniva M. K. Bøstrand ◽  
Kadi Vaher ◽  
Laura De Nooij ◽  
Mathew A. Harris ◽  
James H. Cole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Mendelian Randomization ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Biological Ageing ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Brain Ageing ◽  
Brain Age

AbstractBackgroundHarmful alcohol use is a leading cause of premature death, and is associated with age-related disease. Ageing is highly variable between individuals, and may deviate from chronological ageing, suggesting that biomarkers of biological ageing (based on DNA methylation or brain structural measures) may be clinically relevant. Here, we investigated the relationships between alcohol phenotypes and both brain and DNA methylation age estimates.MethodsFirst, using data from UK Biobank and Generation Scotland, we tested the association between alcohol consumption (units/week) or hazardous use (AUDIT scores), and accelerated brain and epigenetic ageing in 20,258 and 8,051 individuals, respectively. Second, we used Mendelian randomization to test for a causal effect of alcohol consumption levels and alcohol use disorder (AUD) on biological ageing.ResultsAlcohol use showed a consistent positive association with higher predicted brain age (AUDIT-C: β=0.053, p=3.16×10−13; AUDIT-P: β=0.052, p=1.6×10−13; total AUDIT score: β=0.062, p=5.52×10−16; units/week: β=0.078, p=2.20×10−16), and DNA methylation GrimAge (Units/week: β=0.053, p=1.48×10− 7) and PhenoAge (Units/week: β=0.077, p=2.18×10−10). Mendelian randomization analyses revealed some evidence for a causal effect of AUD on accelerated brain ageing (β=0.272, p=0.044), and no evidence for a causal effect of alcohol consumption levels on accelerated biological ageing.ConclusionsWe provide consistent phenotypic evidence linking alcohol use with accelerated biological ageing. There is possible evidence for a causal effect of AUD on brain age, but not for any other alcohol-related trait on brain or epigenetic age acceleration. Future studies investigating the mechanisms associating alcohol use with accelerated biological ageing are warranted.

scholarly journals Brain-wide functional architecture remodeling by alcohol dependence and abstinence

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 2149-2159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Kimbrough ◽  
Daniel J. Lurie ◽  
Andres Collazo ◽  
Max Kreifeldt ◽  
Harpreet Sidhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Dependence ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Alcohol Exposure ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Functional Architecture ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Alcohol Abstinence

Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are key factors in the development of alcohol use disorder, which is a pervasive societal problem with substantial economic, medical, and psychiatric consequences. Although our understanding of the neurocircuitry that underlies alcohol use has improved, novel brain regions that are involved in alcohol use and novel biomarkers of alcohol use need to be identified. The present study used a single-cell whole-brain imaging approach to 1) assess whether abstinence from alcohol in an animal model of alcohol dependence alters the functional architecture of brain activity and modularity, 2) validate our current knowledge of the neurocircuitry of alcohol abstinence, and 3) discover brain regions that may be involved in alcohol use. Alcohol abstinence resulted in the whole-brain reorganization of functional architecture in mice and a pronounced decrease in modularity that was not observed in nondependent moderate drinkers. Structuring of the alcohol abstinence network revealed three major brain modules: 1) extended amygdala module, 2) midbrain striatal module, and 3) cortico-hippocampo-thalamic module, reminiscent of the three-stage theory. Many hub brain regions that control this network were identified, including several that have been previously overlooked in alcohol research. These results identify brain targets for future research and demonstrate that alcohol use and dependence remodel brain-wide functional architecture to decrease modularity. Further studies are needed to determine whether the changes in coactivation and modularity that are associated with alcohol abstinence are causal features of alcohol dependence or a consequence of excessive drinking and alcohol exposure.

Conceptual disorganization and redistribution of resting state cortical hubs in untreated first episode psychosis: A 7T MRI study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avyarthana Dey ◽  
Kara Dempster ◽  
Michael Mackinley ◽  
Peter Jeon ◽  
Tushar Das ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
First Episode Psychosis ◽  
Cortical Reorganization ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Formal Thought Disorder ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Episode Psychosis ◽  
Positive And Negative Symptoms

Background:Network level dysconnectivity has been studied in positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Conceptual disorganization (CD) is a symptom subtype which predicts impaired real-world functioning in psychosis. Systematic reviews have reported aberrant connectivity in formal thought disorder, a construct related to CD. However, no studies have investigated whole-brain functional correlates of CD in psychosis. We sought to investigate brain regions explaining the severity of CD in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEPs) compared with healthy controls (HCs).Methods:We computed whole-brain binarized degree centrality maps of 31 FEPs, 25 HCs and characterized the patterns of network connectivity in the two groups. In FEPs, we related these findings to the severity of CD. We also studied the effect of positive and negative symptoms on altered network connectivity.Results:Compared to HCs, reduced hubness of a right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG) cluster was observed in the FEPs. In patients exhibiting high CD, increased hubness of a medial superior parietal (mSPL) cluster was observed, compared to patients exhibiting low CD. These two regions were strongly correlated with CD scores but not with other symptom scores.Discussion:Our observations are congruent with previous findings of reduced but not increased hubness. We observed increased hubness of mSPL suggesting that cortical reorganization occurs to provide alternate routes for information transfer.Conclusion:These findings provide insight into the underlying neural processes mediating the presentation of symptoms in untreated FEP. A longitudinal tracking of the symptom course will be useful to assess the mechanisms underlying these compensatory changes.

scholarly journals Associations of Relationship Experiences, Dating Violence, Sexual Harassment, and Assault With Alcohol Use Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110014
Author(s):  
W. J. Kiekens ◽  
L. Baams ◽  
J. N. Fish ◽  
R. J. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Dating Violence ◽  
Heavy Episodic Drinking ◽  
Gender Minority ◽  
Minority Adolescents ◽  
Relationship Experiences ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minority ◽  
And Gender

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents report higher rates of dating violence victimization compared with their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Research on dating violence often neglects diversity in sexual and gender identities and is limited to experiences in relationships. Further, given that dating violence and alcohol use are comorbid, research on experiences of dating violence could provide insights into alcohol use disparities among SGM adolescents. We aimed to map patterns of relationship experiences, sexual and physical dating violence, and sexual and physical assault and explored differences in these experiences among SGM adolescents. Further, we examined how these patterns explained alcohol use. We used a U.S. non-probability national web-based survey administered to 13–17-year-old SGM adolescents ( N = 12,534). Using latent class analyses, four patterns were identified: low relationship experience, dating violence and harassment and assault (72.0%), intermediate dating experiences, sexual harassment, and assault and low levels of dating violence (13.1%), high dating experiences, dating violence, and sexual assault (8.6%), and high dating experiences, dating violence, and sexual harassment and assault (6.3%). Compared to lesbian and gay adolescents, bisexual adolescents reported more experiences with dating, dating violence, and sexual assault, whereas heterosexual adolescents reported fewer experiences with dating, dating violence, and sexual harassment and assault. Compared to cisgender boys, cisgender girls, transgender boys, and non-binary/assigned male at birth adolescents were more likely to experience dating violence inside and outside of relationship contexts. Experiences of dating, dating violence, and sexual harassment and assault were associated with both drinking frequency and heavy episodic drinking. Together, the findings emphasize the relevance of relationship experiences when studying dating violence and how dating violence and sexual harassment and assault might explain disparities in alcohol use.

scholarly journals Exploring the use of workplaces to recruit “hard-to-reach” male drinkers to a survey on alcohol use and awareness of health messages

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Dance ◽  
Charlotte Dack ◽  
Celia Lasheras ◽  
Cathy McMahon ◽  
Paul Scott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Financial Incentive ◽  
Health Messages ◽  
Heavy Episodic Drinking ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Recruitment Strategies ◽  
Public Health Messages ◽  
Alcohol Related Harm ◽  
Related Harm

Abstract Background Lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups, particularly lower SES males, are at greater risk of alcohol-related harm than higher SES groups, despite drinking at the same level or less. However, they are rarely recruited for research through typical recruitment strategies. Consequently, limited evidence exists on patterns of alcohol use and effectiveness of public health messages for these groups. Using workplaces to recruit male drinkers from lower SES backgrounds may provide a feasible and accessible approach to research participation and enable improved understanding of alcohol use, drinking motives and acceptance of alcohol-related public health messages in this underrepresented and high-risk group. We investigated workplace-based strategies to recruit male drinkers from lower SES backgrounds. We also investigated their experiences and motivations for alcohol use, and acceptance of alcohol-related public health messages. Methods A feasibility element investigated the effectiveness of workplace-based strategies to recruit male drinkers from lower SES backgrounds in the south west of England. A pilot element investigated this population’s experiences and motivations for alcohol use, and acceptance of alcohol-related public health messages, through a mixed-methods survey. Results Feasibility results indicated that workplace-based recruitment strategies, including recruiting participants in person at their workplace and providing a financial incentive, effectively led to the recruitment of 84 male drinkers (70% recruitment rate), predominately from lower SES backgrounds, to a survey. Pilot results indicated that more than half of participants were at increasing risk of alcohol-related harm, and approximately one fifth engaged in weekly heavy episodic drinking. Participation in campaigns aimed at reducing alcohol use, and knowledge of government alcohol consumption guidelines, were low. Participants reported negative beliefs about alcohol including health effects, dependency and excess use, and financial and occupational effects. Positive beliefs about alcohol included relaxation, socialising, and enjoyment. Conclusions Workplace-based recruitment, using in-person recruitment and a financial incentive, may be a feasible strategy to recruit male drinkers from lower SES backgrounds. Pilot results may direct larger scale research aiming to understand alcohol use in this population and inform targeted public health messages. Workplace-based recruitment may represent a promising avenue for future research aiming to tackle inequalities in participation in alcohol research.

scholarly journals Alcohol use disorder causes global changes in splicing in the human brain

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Van Booven ◽  
Mengying Li ◽  
J. Sunil Rao ◽  
Ilya O. Blokhin ◽  
R. Dayne Mayfield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Gene Set Enrichment Analysis ◽  
Splicing Factor ◽  
Central Nucleus ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Aberrant Expression ◽  
Altered Expression

AbstractAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is a widespread disease leading to the deterioration of cognitive and other functions. Mechanisms by which alcohol affects the brain are not fully elucidated. Splicing constitutes a nuclear process of RNA maturation, which results in the formation of the transcriptome. We tested the hypothesis as to whether AUD impairs splicing in the superior frontal cortex (SFC), nucleus accumbens (NA), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and central nucleus of the amygdala (CNA). To evaluate splicing, bam files from STAR alignments were indexed with samtools for use by rMATS software. Computational analysis of affected pathways was performed using Gene Ontology Consortium, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, and LncRNA Ontology databases. Surprisingly, AUD was associated with limited changes in the transcriptome: expression of 23 genes was altered in SFC, 14 in NA, 102 in BLA, and 57 in CNA. However, strikingly, mis-splicing in AUD was profound: 1421 mis-splicing events were detected in SFC, 394 in NA, 1317 in BLA, and 469 in CNA. To determine the mechanism of mis-splicing, we analyzed the elements of the spliceosome: small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) and splicing factors. While snRNAs were not affected by alcohol, expression of splicing factor heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 6 (HSPA6) was drastically increased in SFC, BLA, and CNA. Also, AUD was accompanied by aberrant expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) related to splicing. In summary, alcohol is associated with genome-wide changes in splicing in multiple human brain regions, likely due to dysregulation of splicing factor(s) and/or altered expression of splicing-related lncRNAs.

Neuroimaging-based brain-age prediction of first-episode schizophrenia and the alteration of brain age after early medication

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Yi-Bin Xi ◽  
Xu-Sha Wu ◽  
Long-Biao Cui ◽  
Li-Jun Bai ◽  
Shuo-Qiu Gan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Brain Ageing ◽  
First Episode Schizophrenia ◽  
Brain Age ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Age Prediction

Background Neuroimaging- and machine-learning-based brain-age prediction of schizophrenia is well established. However, the diagnostic significance and the effect of early medication on first-episode schizophrenia remains unclear. Aims To explore whether predicted brain age can be used as a biomarker for schizophrenia diagnosis, and the relationship between clinical characteristics and brain-predicted age difference (PAD), and the effects of early medication on predicted brain age. Method The predicted model was built on 523 diffusion tensor imaging magnetic resonance imaging scans from healthy controls. First, the brain-PAD of 60 patients with first-episode schizophrenia, 60 healthy controls and 21 follow-up patients from the principal data-set and 40 pairs of individuals in the replication data-set were calculated. Next, the brain-PAD between groups were compared and the correlations between brain-PAD and clinical measurements were analysed. Results The patients showed a significant increase in brain-PAD compared with healthy controls. After early medication, the brain-PAD of patients decreased significantly compared with baseline (P < 0.001). The fractional anisotropy value of 31/33 white matter tract features, which related to the brain-PAD scores, had significantly statistical differences before and after measurements (P < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected). Correlation analysis showed that the age gap was negatively associated with the positive score on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in the principal data-set (r = −0.326, P = 0.014). Conclusions The brain age of patients with first-episode schizophrenia may be older than their chronological age. Early medication holds promise for improving the patient's brain ageing. Neuroimaging-based brain-age prediction can provide novel insights into the understanding of schizophrenia.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document