In encouraging news for people recovering from alcohol use disorders, new research shows how quickly the brain can repair its structure after stopping drinking.
People who have Alcohol use disorder (AUD) They tend to make mistakes. in their region Cortex; The wrinkled outer layer of the brain is critical for many higher-level cognitive functions. A US study found that people who stopped drinking increased cortical thickness over time, most rapidly in the first month and persisting over 7.3 months, at which point the thickness was comparable to that without AUD.
Past research Some regions have shown that recovery can occur when a person stops drinking, but it was unclear how much or how quickly recovery can occur.
“The few longitudinal studies examining changes in cortical thickness during abstinence are limited to the first month of sobriety.” He wrote A team led by psychiatrist and behavioral scientist Timothy Durazzo at Stanford University.
“However, the extent to which long-term abstinence (eg, longer than 6 months) recovers regional cortical thickness is unknown.”
approx 16 million people in the US You suffer from AUD. It’s major. A public health issueAnd understanding this complex problem is important for treatment, prevention and reduction of stigma.
Changes in brain structure and function during chronic alcohol use make it difficult for people to stop drinking, even with the best intentions. For example, the Pre-frontal cortex – an area involved in planning and decision-making – may be less active; Helping people with AUD make healthy decisions.
Durazzo and colleagues examined how certain health conditions, smoking history, psychiatric conditions, and substance use disorders affect long-term changes in cortical thickness in people recovering from AUD.
In total, 88 individuals with AUD participated in the study, undergoing brain scans at approximately 1 week, 1 month, and 7.3 months of abstinence. Some participants joined at the 1-month mark, meaning 23 individuals did not have a scan within 1 week and only 40 of the total 88 continued abstinence from alcohol to the full period.
They also looked at 45 people who had never had AUD, measuring their cortical thickness at baseline and again 9 months later to make sure the areas measured were the same.
Kind of Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to look at the brains of the participants, especially useful for obtaining clear images of the internal structures of the body. The researchers averaged cortical thickness measurements for 34 regions in the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
After 7.3 months without alcohol, those with AUD regained obesity significantly. It was enough to be statistically significant in 25 out of 34 regions, and 24 of them were considered equal to the control thickness.
All 34 cortical regions that Durazzo and his team looked at showed faster changes in thickness from 1 week to 1 month in the AUD participants than from 1 month to 7.3 months.
Cortical thickening occurred more slowly in some AUD patients with high blood pressure or high cholesterol. The same was true for people with AUD who were current smokers.
No significant association was found between changes in cortical thickness and current substance abuse (including drugs other than alcohol), or psychiatric disorders or past smoking. Therefore, smoking cessation may contribute to the recovery of cortical thickness.
These results provide encouragement and new insight into brain recovery after alcohol cessation, although due to the small sample size and lack of heterogeneity, they cannot be generalized. It should also be noted that these findings do not indicate that the changes had any effect on brain function.
“Larger longitudinal studies are needed to examine the neurocognitive and psychosocial correlates of recovery of cortical thickness during sustained abstinence in AUD,” the team said. He wrote.
The authors note that unaccounted for variables such as genetics, physical activity, and people’s liver and lung health may influence their findings.
“This data provides clinically relevant information about the beneficial effects of sustained salience on the human brain,” the authors said To conclude“And abstinence-based recovery in AUD reinforces dynamic outcomes.”
The study was published in Alcohol.