Cited by 190Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorAlcoholism and Thiamine Deficiency

Association of frontal and posterior cortical gray matter volume with time to alcohol relapse: a prospective study

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Rando, Kenneth, Hong, Kwang-Ik, Bhagwagar, Zubin, Li, Chiang-Shan Ray, Bergquist, Keri, Guarnaccia, Joseph, Sinha, Rajita·2011·American Journal of Psychiatry

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Alcoholism is associated with gray matter volume deficits in frontal and other brain regions. Whether persistent brain volume deficits in abstinence are predictive of subsequent time to alcohol relapse has not been established. The authors measured gray matter volumes in healthy volunteers and in a sample of treatment-engaged, alcohol-dependent patients after 1 month of abstinence and assessed whether smaller frontal gray matter volume was predictive of subsequent alcohol relapse outcomes. METHOD: Forty-five abstinent alcohol-dependent patients in treatment and 50 healthy comparison subjects were scanned once using high-resolution (T(1)-weighted) structural MRI, and voxel-based morphometry was used to assess regional brain volume differences between the groups. A prospective study design was used to assess alcohol relapse in the alcohol-dependent group for 90 days after discharge from 6 weeks of inpatient treatment. RESULTS: Significantly smaller gray matter volume in alcohol-dependent patients relative to comparison subjects was seen in three regions: the medial frontal cortex, the right lateral prefrontal cortex, and a posterior region surrounding the parietal-occipital sulcus. Smaller medial frontal and parietal-occipital gray matter volumes were each predictive of shorter time to any alcohol use and to heavy drinking relapse. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are the first to demonstrate that gray matter volume deficits in specific medial frontal and posterior parietal-occipital brain regions are predictive of an earlier return to alcohol use and relapse risk, suggesting a significant role for gray matter atrophy in poor clinical outcomes in alcoholism. Extent of gray matter volume deficits in these regions could serve as useful neural markers of relapse risk and alcoholism treatment outcome.

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  • Frontal cortex-derived executive function disorders in addiction have been linked to deficits in behavioural treatments' ability to effect recovery.

    “Such frontal cortex-derived executive function disorders in addiction have been linked to deficits in the ability of behavioural treatments to effect recovery.110”

    From Neurobiology of addiction: a neurocircuitry analysis (2016) · cites this paper as [110]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that smaller medial frontal gray matter volume predicted shorter time to relapse in alcohol-dependent patients and suggests that impaired cognitive control could contribute. It explicitly says the study did not establish a link with functional impairment; it does not assess whether executive-function deficits reduce the effectiveness of behavioural treatments. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [19]First MB Spitzer RL Williams JBW Gibbon M Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-Patient Edition (SCID-P) 1995 American Psychiatric Press Washington, DC
  2. [30]Sobell LC Sobell MB Litten RZ Allen JP Timeline followback: a technique for assessing self-reported alcohol consumption, in Measuring Alcohol Consumption: Pyschosocial and Biochemical Methods 1992 Humana Press Totowa, NJ

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Authors
Rando, K., Hong, K.-I., Bhagwagar, Z., Li, C.-S. R., Bergquist, K., Guarnaccia, J., & Sinha, R.
Affiliations
  • Yale University (US)
  • From the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine; and the Yale Child Study Center, New Haven.
Venue
American Journal of Psychiatry
Published
2011-02
Volume
168
Issue
2
Pages
183-192
ISSN
  • 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-7228
OpenAlex
W2167579043
Cited by
189
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 15
FWCI
7.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5k23mh077914-02)
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA013892)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K23-MH077914)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (K02DA026990)
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (UL1DE019586)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR024139)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Alcoholism and Thiamine Deficiency
Keywords
alcohol relapse, gray matter volume, alcoholism, abstinence, medial frontal cortex, prefrontal cortex, gray matter atrophy, relapse risk prediction, neural markers, treatment outcomes
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Alcoholism, Brain Mapping, Female, Frontal Lobe, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Occipital Lobe, Organ Size, Parietal Lobe, Prospective Studies, Recurrence, Reference Values, Temperance, Young Adult

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