Cross-sectional age effects in normal control volunteers were investigated in 8 subcortical structures: lateral ventricles, thalamus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, hippocampus, amygdala and nucleus accumbens. Two hundred and twenty six control subjects, ranging in age from 19 to 85 years, were scanned on a 1.5T GE system (n = 184) or a 3.0T Siemens system (n = 42). Cranium-size adjusted subcortical structure volumes were estimated using FSL’s FIRST software, which is fully automated. Significant age effects were found for all volumes when the entire age range was analyzed, however the older subjects (60–85 years of age) showed a stronger correlation between age and structural volume for the ventricles, hippocampus, amygdala and accumbens than middle-aged (35–60 years of age) subjects. Middle-aged subjects were studied at both sites, and age effects in these groups were comparable, despite differences in magnet strength and acquisition systems. This agreement lends support to the validity of the image analysis tools and procedures used in the present study.

Background Research in chronic alcoholics on memory, decision making, learning, stress and reward circuitry has increasingly highlighted the importance of subcortical brain structures. In addition, epidemiological studies have established the pervasiveness of co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses in alcoholism. Subcortical structures have been implicated in externalizing pathology, including alcohol dependence, and in dysregulated stress and reward circuitry in anxiety and mood disorders and alcohol dependence. Most studies have focused on active or recently detoxified alcoholics, while subcortical structures in long-term abstinent alcoholics (LTAA) have remained relatively uninvestigated. Methods Structural MRI was used to compare volumes of eight subcortical structures (lateral ventricles, thalamus, caudate, putamen, pallidum, hippocampus, amygdala and nucleus accumbens) in 24 female and 28 male long-term abstinent alcoholics (LTAA) (mean abstinence = 6.3 years, mean age = 46.6 years) and 23 female and 25 male nonalcoholic controls (NAC) (mean age = 45.6 years) to explore relations between subcortical brain volumes and alcohol use measures in LTAA, and relations between subcortical volumes and psychiatric diagnoses and symptom counts in LTAA and NAC. Results We found minimal differences between LTAA and NAC in subcortical volumes. However, in LTAA, but not NAC, volumes of targeted subcortical structures were smaller in individuals with vs. without comorbid lifetime or current psychiatric diagnoses, independent of lifetime alcohol consumption. Conclusions Our finding of minimal differences in subcortical volumes between LTAA and NAC is consistent with LTAA never having had volume deficits in these regions. However, given that imaging studies have frequently reported smaller subcortical volumes in active and recently detoxified alcoholics compared to controls, our results are also consistent with recovery of subcortical volumes with sustained abstinence. The finding of persistent smaller subcortical volumes in LTAA, but not NAC, with comorbid psychiatric diagnoses, suggests that the smaller volumes are a result of the combined effects of chronic alcohol dependence and psychiatric morbidity, and suggests that a comorbid psychiatric disorder (even if not current) interferes with the recovery of subcortical volumes.