Senatorov Vladimir V, Damadzic Ruslan, Mann Claire L, Schwandt Melanie L, George David T, Hommer Daniel W, Heilig Markus, Momenan Reza
1 Section on Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging, Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
2 Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Brain. 2015 Jan;138(Pt 1):69-79. doi: 10.1093/brain/awu305. Epub 2014 Nov 2.
The insula, a structure involved in higher order representation of interoceptive states, has recently been implicated in drug craving and social stress. Here, we performed brain magnetic resonance imaging to measure volumes of the insula and amygdala, a structure with reciprocal insular connections, in 26 alcohol-dependent patients and 24 healthy volunteers (aged 22-56 years, nine females in each group). We used an established morphometry method to quantify total and regional insular volumes. Volumetric measurements of the amygdala were obtained using a model-based segmentation/registration tool. In alcohol-dependent patients, anterior insula volumes were bilaterally reduced compared to healthy volunteers (left by 10%, right by 11%, normalized to total brain volumes). Furthermore, alcohol-dependent patients, compared with healthy volunteers, had bilaterally increased amygdala volumes. The left amygdala was increased by 28% and the right by 29%, normalized to total brain volumes. Post-mortem studies of the anterior insula showed that the reduced anterior insular volume may be associated with a population of von Economo neurons, which were 60% diminished in subjects with a history of alcoholism (n = 6) as compared to subjects without a history of alcoholism (n = 6) (aged 32-56 years, all males). The pattern of neuroanatomical change observed in our alcohol-dependent patients might result in a loss of top-down control of amygdala function, potentially contributing to impaired social cognition as well as an inability to control negatively reinforced alcohol seeking and use.
脑岛是一个参与内感受状态高阶表征的结构,最近被认为与药物渴望和社会压力有关。在这里,我们对26名酒精依赖患者和24名健康志愿者(年龄在22 - 56岁之间,每组9名女性)进行了脑磁共振成像,以测量脑岛和杏仁核(一个与脑岛有相互连接的结构)的体积。我们使用一种既定的形态测量方法来量化脑岛的总体积和区域体积。杏仁核的体积测量使用基于模型的分割/配准工具获得。与健康志愿者相比,酒精依赖患者双侧前脑岛体积减小(左侧减小10%,右侧减小11%,以全脑体积归一化)。此外,与健康志愿者相比,酒精依赖患者双侧杏仁核体积增大。左侧杏仁核增大28%,右侧增大29%,以全脑体积归一化。对前脑岛的尸检研究表明,前脑岛体积减小可能与一群冯·埃科诺莫神经元有关,与无酗酒史的受试者(n = 6)相比,有酗酒史的受试者(n = 6)(年龄在32 - 56岁之间,均为男性)中这群神经元减少了60%。在我们的酒精依赖患者中观察到的神经解剖学变化模式可能导致杏仁核功能自上而下控制的丧失,这可能会导致社会认知受损,以及无法控制因负面强化而产生的酒精寻求和使用行为。