Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Health Sciences, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 4;11(1):5238. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84804-7.
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is associated with reductions in grey matter (GM) volume which can lead to changes in numerous brain functions. The results of previous studies on altered GM in AUD differ considerably in the regions identified. Three meta-analyses carried out between 2014 and 2017 yielded different results. The present study includes the considerable amount of newer research and delivers a state-of-the art meta-analysis in line with recently published guidelines. Additionally, we behaviorally characterized affected regions using fMRI metadata and identified related brain networks by determining their meta-analytic connectivity patterns. Twenty-seven studies with 1,045 AUD patients and 1,054 healthy controls were included in the analysis and analyzed by means of Anatomical Likelihood Estimation (ALE). GM alterations were identified in eight clusters covering different parts of the cingulate and medial frontal gyri, paracentral lobes, left post- and precentral gyri, left anterior and right posterior insulae and left superior frontal gyrus. The behavioral characterization associated these regions with specific cognitive, emotional, somatosensory and motor functions. Moreover, the clusters represent nodes within behaviorally relevant brain networks. Our results suggest that GM reduction in AUD could disrupt network communication responsible for the neurocognitive impairments associated with high chronic alcohol consumption.
酒精使用障碍 (AUD) 与灰质 (GM) 体积减少有关，这可能导致许多大脑功能发生变化。以前关于 AUD 中 GM 改变的研究结果在确定的区域有很大差异。2014 年至 2017 年间进行的三项荟萃分析得出了不同的结果。本研究包括大量更新的研究，并根据最近发表的指南进行了最先进的荟萃分析。此外，我们使用 fMRI 元数据对受影响的区域进行了行为特征描述，并通过确定其荟萃分析连接模式来确定相关的大脑网络。共有 27 项研究纳入了 1045 名 AUD 患者和 1054 名健康对照组，通过解剖似然估计 (ALE) 进行分析。在 8 个簇中发现了 GM 改变，这些簇覆盖了扣带回和内侧额回、旁中央叶、左侧前后中央回、左侧岛叶前部和右侧岛叶后部以及左侧额上回的不同部位。行为特征将这些区域与特定的认知、情绪、躯体感觉和运动功能联系起来。此外，这些簇代表了与行为相关的大脑网络中的节点。我们的研究结果表明，AUD 中的 GM 减少可能会破坏负责与长期大量饮酒相关的神经认知障碍的网络通讯。
