Repository logo
 

Sexually dimorphic brain volume interaction in college-aged binge drinkers.


Change log

Authors

Kvamme, Timo L 
Schmidt, Casper 
Strelchuk, Daniela 
Chang-Webb, Yee Chien 
Baek, Kwangyeol 

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Binge consumption of alcohol is a major societal problem associated with important cognitive, physiological and neurotoxic consequences. Converging evidence highlights the need to assess binge drinking (BD) and its effects on the developing brain while taking into account gender differences. Here, we compared the brain volumetric differences between genders in college-aged binge drinkers and healthy volunteers. METHOD: T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images of 30 binge drinkers (18 males) and 46 matched healthy volunteers (23 males) were examined using voxel-based morphometry. The anatomical scans were covaried with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores. Whole brain voxel-wise group comparisons were performed using a cluster extent threshold correction. RESULTS: Several large clusters qualified with group-by-gender interactions were observed in prefrontal, striatal and medial temporal areas, whereby BD females had more volume than non-BD females, while males showed the inverse pattern of decreased volume in BD males and increased volume in non-BD males. AUDIT scores negatively correlated with volume in the right superior frontal cortex and precentral gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: These findings dovetail with previous studies reporting that a state effect of BD in college-aged drinkers and the severity of alcohol use are associated with volumetric alterations in the cortical and subcortical areas of the brain. Our study indicates that these widespread volumetric changes vary differentially by gender, suggesting either sexual dimorphic endophenotypic risk factors, or differential neurotoxic sensitivities for males and females.

Description

Keywords

AAL, Automatic Anatomical Labeling, AUDIT, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, AUDs, alcohol-use disorders, Adolescence, Alcohol, BD, binge drinking, BDI, Beck Depression Inventory, Binge drinking, FWE, familywise error, GLM, general linear model, Gender, HV, healthy volunteer, ICBM, International Consortium for Brain Mapping, IFG, inferior frontal gyrus, MNI, Montreal Neurological Institute, MRI, magnetic resonance imaging, Magnetic resonance imaging, NIAAA, National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, Neurodevelopment, PFC, prefrontal cortex, SPM, Statistical Parametric Mapping, STAI, Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory, SVCs, small volume corrections, Striatum, UPPS-P, UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior, Voxel-based morphometry, WBIC, Wolfson Brain Imaging Center, Adult, Binge Drinking, Brain, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Sex Characteristics, Sex Factors, Young Adult

Journal Title

Neuroimage Clin

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2213-1582
2213-1582

Volume Title

10

Publisher

Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (093705/Z/10/Z)
The study was supported by the Wellcome Trust grant to VV (093705/10/Z). We would like to thank the WBIC staff for their expertise and assistance with collecting the imaging data, and our participants for their time and commitment. The Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute is supported by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council.