Quantitative neurobiological evidence for accelerated brain aging in alcohol dependence.

ABSTRACT: The premature aging hypothesis of alcohol dependence proposes that the neurobiological and behavioural deficits in individuals with alcohol dependence are analogous to those of chronological aging. However, to date no systematic neurobiological evidence for this hypothesis has been provided. To test the hypothesis, 119 alcohol-dependent subjects and 97 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects underwent structural MRI. Whole-brain grey matter volume maps were computed from structural MRI scans using voxel-based morphometry and parcelled into a comprehensive set of anatomical brain regions. Regional grey matter volume averages served as the basis for cross-regional similarity analyses and a brain age model. We found a striking correspondence between regional patterns of alcohol- and

SUBMITTER: Guggenmos M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5802586 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature