Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank

Remi Daviet; Gökhan Aydogan; Kanchana Jagannathan; Nathaniel Spilka; Philipp D. Koellinger; Henry R. Kranzler; Gideon Nave; Reagan R. Wetherill

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28735-5

Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank

Remi Daviet^*
, Gökhan Aydogan
, Kanchana Jagannathan
, Nathaniel Spilka
, Philipp D. Koellinger
, Henry R. Kranzler
, Gideon Nave
, Reagan R. Wetherill

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Heavy alcohol consumption has been associated with brain atrophy, neuronal loss, and poorer white matter fiber integrity. However, there is conflicting evidence on whether light-to-moderate alcohol consumption shows similar negative associations with brain structure. To address this, we examine the associations between alcohol intake and brain structure using multimodal imaging data from 36,678 generally healthy middle-aged and older adults from the UK Biobank, controlling for numerous potential confounds. Consistent with prior literature, we find negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure. Specifically, alcohol intake is negatively associated with global brain volume measures, regional gray matter volumes, and white matter microstructure. Here, we show that the negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure are already apparent in individuals consuming an average of only one to two daily alcohol units, and become stronger as alcohol intake increases.

Original language	English
Article number	1175
Pages (from-to)	1-11
Number of pages	11
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	13
Early online date	4 Mar 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28735-5
Publication status	Published - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Funding

This research was carried out under the auspices of the Brain Imaging and Genetics in Behavioral Research Consortium ( https://big-bear-research.org/ ), using UK Biobank resources under application 40830. The study was supported by funding from an ERC Consolidator Grant to PK (647648 EdGe), NSF Early Career Development Program grant (1942917) to GN, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to RRW (K23 AA023894), and the VISN 4 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Crescenz VA Medical Center. GN thanks Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz for their ongoing support.

Funders	Funder number
Crescenz VA Medical Center
Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz
European Research Council
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism	K23AA023894
Engineering Research Centers	647648 EdGe
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme	647648
National Science Foundation	1942917

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title = "Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank",

abstract = "Heavy alcohol consumption has been associated with brain atrophy, neuronal loss, and poorer white matter fiber integrity. However, there is conflicting evidence on whether light-to-moderate alcohol consumption shows similar negative associations with brain structure. To address this, we examine the associations between alcohol intake and brain structure using multimodal imaging data from 36,678 generally healthy middle-aged and older adults from the UK Biobank, controlling for numerous potential confounds. Consistent with prior literature, we find negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure. Specifically, alcohol intake is negatively associated with global brain volume measures, regional gray matter volumes, and white matter microstructure. Here, we show that the negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure are already apparent in individuals consuming an average of only one to two daily alcohol units, and become stronger as alcohol intake increases.",

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AU - Daviet, Remi

AU - Aydogan, Gökhan

AU - Jagannathan, Kanchana

AU - Spilka, Nathaniel

AU - Koellinger, Philipp D.

AU - Kranzler, Henry R.

AU - Nave, Gideon

AU - Wetherill, Reagan R.

PY - 2022

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AB - Heavy alcohol consumption has been associated with brain atrophy, neuronal loss, and poorer white matter fiber integrity. However, there is conflicting evidence on whether light-to-moderate alcohol consumption shows similar negative associations with brain structure. To address this, we examine the associations between alcohol intake and brain structure using multimodal imaging data from 36,678 generally healthy middle-aged and older adults from the UK Biobank, controlling for numerous potential confounds. Consistent with prior literature, we find negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure. Specifically, alcohol intake is negatively associated with global brain volume measures, regional gray matter volumes, and white matter microstructure. Here, we show that the negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure are already apparent in individuals consuming an average of only one to two daily alcohol units, and become stronger as alcohol intake increases.

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Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank

Abstract

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