Differential effects of alcohol‐drinking patterns on the structure and function of the brain and cognitive performance in young adult drinkers: A pilot study

Abstract

Introduction This study was aimed to determine how different patterns of alcohol consumption drive changes to brain structure and function and their correlation with cognitive impairments in young adult alcohol drinkers. Methods In this study, we enrolled five groups participants and defined as: long‐term abstinence from alcohol (LA), binge drinking (BD), long‐term low dosage alcohol consumption but exceeding the safety drinking dosage (LD), long‐term alcohol consumption of damaging dosage (LDD), and long‐term heavy drinking (HD). All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI (fMRI) to acquire data on brain structure and function, including gray matter volume (GMV), fractional amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), functional connectivity (FC), and brain network properties. The cognitive ability was evaluated with the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), intelligence quotient (IQ), and short delay free recall (SDFR). Results Compared to LA, GMV significantly decreased in the brain regions in VN, SMN, and VAN in the alcohol‐drinking groups (BD, LD, LDD, and HD). ReHo was significantly enhanced in the brain regions in VN, SMN, and VAN, while fALFF significantly increased in the brain regions in VN and SMN. The number of intra‐ and inter‐modular connections within networks (VN, SMN, sensory control network [SCN], and VAN) and their connections to other modules were abnormally changed. These changes adversely affected cognition (e.g., IQ, CVLT, SDFR). Conclusion Despite the small sample size, this study provides new evidence supporting the need for young people to abstain from alcohol to protect their brains. These findings present strong reasoning for updating anti‐alcohol slogans and guidelines for young people in the future.

Intrinsic brain activity in sensorimotor cortices characterises substance use disorders: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis

“…This may be in line with the correlates of craving and severity, as it has already been suggested that this effect may have been driven by SUD participants with low cravings, good responses to substitution medication, and less severe consumption patterns. This also fits with the findings of Guo et al (2022) who investigated the impact of different alcohol consumption patterns on whole brain ReHo, fALFF, and grey matter in young healthy drinkers. Their results indicated that drinking patterns involving frequent alcohol consumption led to increased ReHo and fALFF values accompanied by a loss of grey matter especially in PrCG and PoCG compared to infrequent drinking patterns.…”

Global, interhemispheric and intrahemispheric functional connection patterns in male adults with alcohol use disorder

“…Long‐range connectivity was mainly detected in the frontal gyrus, cingulate cortex, thalamus, caudate, striatum and amygdala 12,16,17 . In other research, investigators utilized both of these parameters and found that individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) exhibited enhanced ReHo in the sensorimotor network (SMN), ventral attention network (VAN) and visual network (VN) and weaker rsFC between the fusiform region and middle cingulum cortex and within networks (the VN, SMN and sensory control network) 18 . Moreover, structure connectivity analysis identified reduced integrity of interhemispheric connections in male adults with severe AUD 19 .…”

Analytical description of adolescent binge drinking patients

“…Binge drinking is a leading cause of mortality and injury among young adults. It can lead to major health problems, primarily related to alcohol dependence later in life [ 3 ], and result in long-term cognitive impairment [ 4 , 5 ].…”