Dataset Information

Increased ventral striatal volume in college-aged binge drinkers.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Binge drinking is a serious public health issue associated with cognitive, physiological, and anatomical differences from healthy individuals. No studies, however, have reported subcortical grey matter differences in this population. To address this, we compared the grey matter volumes of college-age binge drinkers and healthy controls, focusing on the ventral striatum, hippocampus and amygdala.

Method

T1-weighted images of 19 binge drinkers and 19 healthy volunteers were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry. Structural data were also covaried with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores. Cluster-extent threshold and small volume corrections were both used to analyze imaging data.

Results

Binge drinkers had significantly larger ventral striatal grey matter volumes compared to controls. There were no between group differences in hippocampal or amygdalar volume. Ventral striatal, amygdalar, and hippocampal volumes were also negatively related to AUDIT scores across groups.

Conclusions

Our findings stand in contrast to the lower ventral striatal volume previously observed in more severe forms of alcohol use disorders, suggesting that college-age binge drinkers may represent a distinct population from those groups. These findings may instead represent early sequelae, compensatory effects of repeated binge and withdrawal, or an endophenotypic risk factor.

SUBMITTER: Howell NA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3785474 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Increased ventral striatal volume in college-aged binge drinkers.

Howell Nicholas A NA Worbe Yulia Y Lange Iris I Tait Roger R Irvine Michael M Banca Paula P Harrison Neil A NA Bullmore Edward T ET Hutchison William D WD Voon Valerie V

PloS one 20130927 9

<h4>Background</h4>Binge drinking is a serious public health issue associated with cognitive, physiological, and anatomical differences from healthy individuals. No studies, however, have reported subcortical grey matter differences in this population. To address this, we compared the grey matter volumes of college-age binge drinkers and healthy controls, focusing on the ventral striatum, hippocampus and amygdala.<h4>Method</h4>T1-weighted images of 19 binge drinkers and 19 healthy volunteers we ...[more]

PMID: 24086317

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Project description:BackgroundGrowing evidence points towards dysfunction of the ventral striatum as a neural substrate of motivational impairments in schizophrenia. Ventral striatal activity during reward anticipation is generally reduced in patients with schizophrenia and specifically correlates with apathy. However, little is known about the cortico-striatal functional connectivity in patients with schizophrenia during reward anticipation and its relation to negative symptoms.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to identify categorical group differences in ventral striatal functional connectivity during reward anticipation between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls, and dimensional associations between cortico-striatal functional connectivity and negative symptom severity.MethodA total of 40 patients with schizophrenia (10 females) and 33 healthy controls (8 females) were included from two previously published studies. All participants performed a variant of the Monetary Incentive Delay Task while undergoing event-related fMRI. Functional connectivity was assessed using psychophysical interactions (PPI) with the left and right ventral striatum as seeds and the contrast [High Reward Anticipation - No Reward Anticipation]. Negative symptoms were assessed using the Brief Negative Symptom Scale.ResultsCompared to controls, patients with schizophrenia showed increased functional connectivity between the left ventral striatum and the left precuneus and right parahippocampal gyrus, two hubs of the default mode network (cluster-level threshold: FWE, p < .05). In addition, we found a negative association between apathy scores on the BNSS and increased functional connectivity between the left ventral striatum and the left ventral anterior insula / putamen and the left inferior frontal gyrus / dorsal anterior insula (cluster-level threshold: FWE, p < .05).ConclusionsOur results indicate that the patterns of increased functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and the dorsal default mode network during reward anticipation could act as a compensatory mechanism to regulate the activity of the ventral striatum. Our results also showed that functional connectivity patterns from the ventral striatum, much like its local activity, is specifically related to apathy, and not diminished expression.

Project description:Striatal degeneration may contribute to cognitive impairment in older people. Here, we examine the relation of degeneration of the striatum and substructures to cognitive decline and dementia in subjects with a wide range of cognitive function. Data are from the prospective community-based Honolulu Asia Aging Study of Japanese American men born 1900-1919. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (1.5 T) was acquired on a stratified subsample (n = 477) that included four groups defined by cognitive status relative to the scan date: subjects without dementia (n = 347), subjects identified as demented 2-3 years before brain scanning (n = 30), at the time of scanning (n = 58), and 3-5 years after scanning (n = 42). Volumes of the striatum, including the accumbens, putamen, and caudate nucleus were automatically estimated from T1 MR images. Global cognitive function was measured with the cognitive ability screening instrument (CASI), at four examinations spanning an 8-year interval. Trajectories of cognitive decline were estimated for each quartile of striatal volume using mixed models, controlling for demographic variables, measures of cerebro-vascular damage, global brain atrophy, and hippocampal volume. Diagnosis of dementia before, during, and after brain scanning was associated with smaller volumes of n. accumbens and putamen, but not with caudate nucleus volume. Subjects in the lowest quartile of n. accumbens volume, both in the total sample and in the subjects not diagnosed with dementia during the study, had a significantly (p < 0.0001) steeper decline in cognitive performance compared with those in the highest quartile. In conclusion, volumes of the n. accumbens and putamen are closely associated with the occurrence of dementia and n. accumbens volume predicts cognitive decline in older people. These associations were found independent of the magnitude of other pivotal markers of cognitive decline, i.e. cerebro-vascular damage and hippocampal volume. The present study suggests a role for the ventral striatum in the development of clinical dementia.

Dataset Information

Increased ventral striatal volume in college-aged binge drinkers.

Background

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Increased ventral striatal volume in college-aged binge drinkers.

Similar Datasets

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