Emotional processing and social cognition in alcohol use disorder.

International audienc

Métamémoire, prise de décision et motivation dans l alcoolo-dépendance (Etudes en neuropsychologie et neuroimagerie structurale)

CAEN-BU Droit Lettres (141182101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Executive Functions, Memory, and Social Cognitive Deficits and Recovery in Chronic Alcoholism: A Critical Review to Inform Future Research

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Macrostructural abnormalities in Korsakoff syndrome compared with uncomplicated alcoholism.

International audienceOBJECTIVE: To distinguish, in patients with Korsakoff syndrome (KS), the structural brain abnormalities shared with alcoholic patients without KS (AL), from those specific to KS. METHODS: MRI data were collected in 11 alcoholic patients with KS, 34 alcoholic patients without KS, and 25 healthy control subjects (CS). Gray and white matter volumes were compared in the 3 groups using a voxel-based approach. RESULTS: A conjunction analysis indicated a large pattern of shared gray and white matter volume deficits in AL and KS. There were graded effects of volume deficits (KS < AL < CS) in the medial portion of the thalami, hypothalamus (mammillary bodies), left insula, and genu of the corpus callosum. Abnormalities in the left thalamic radiation were observed only in KS. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate considerable similarities in the pattern of gray and white matter damage in AL and KS. This finding confirms the widespread neurotoxic effect of chronic alcohol consumption. Only a few cerebral regions, including the medial thalami, mammillary bodies, and corpus callosum, were more severely damaged in KS than in AL. The continuum of macrostructural damage from AL to KS is therefore restricted to key brain structures. Longitudinal investigations are required to determine whether alcoholic patients with medial thalamic volumes that are comparable to those of patients with KS are at increased risk of developing KS

Cognitive and Motor Impairment Severity Related to Signs of Subclinical Wernicke's Encephalopathy in HIV Infection

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Cognitive Barriers to Readiness to Change in Alcohol-Dependent Patients.

International audienceBACKGROUND: Patients' personal investment and readiness to change have proved to be a prerequisite for the successful treatment of alcohol addiction. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of cognitive functions to the motivation process to abandon maladjusted behavior in favor of a healthier lifestyle. METHODS: An adapted version of the "readiness to change" questionnaire was completed by 31 alcohol-dependent patients after detoxification and at alcohol treatment entry. This tool is designed to assess the 3 main stages of motivation to change regarding alcohol consumption: precontemplation (substance abuse and no intention to stop drinking), contemplation (strong intention to change habits but ambivalent behavior), and action (cessation of excessive alcohol consumption and behavioral changes for healthier habits) stages. Patients and 37 healthy controls also underwent an extensive neuropsychological battery including episodic memory, metamemory, executive functions, and decision-making assessment. RESULTS: When alcohol-dependent patients were considered as a group, the mean score on the action subscale was significantly higher than the precontemplation and contemplation ones. Nevertheless, when the stage of change reached by each patient was considered individually, we found that some alcohol-dependent patients were still in the earlier precontemplation and contemplation stages. Stepwise regression analysis revealed links between impaired memory and executive functions and low motivation, and between good decision-making skills and high motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that a set of complementary cognitive abilities is needed to achieve awareness and resolve ambivalence toward alcohol addiction, which is essential for activating the desire to change problematic behavior

Relationship Between Brain Volumetric Changes and Interim Drinking at Six Months in Alcohol-Dependent Patients

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Readiness to change and brain damage in patients with chronic alcoholism

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Chronic alcohol consumption and its effect on nodes of frontocerebellar and limbic circuitry: Comparison of effects in France and the United States.

International audienceAlcohol use disorders present a significant public health problem in France and the United States (U.S.), but whether the untoward effect of alcohol on the brain results in similar damage in both countries remains unknown. Accordingly, we conducted a retrospective collaborative investigation between two French sites (Caen and Orsay) and a U.S. laboratory (SRI/Stanford University) with T1-weighted, structural MRI data collected on a common imaging platform (1.5T, General Electric) on 288 normal controls (NC), 165 uncomplicated alcoholics (ALC), and 26 patients with alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) diagnosed at all sites with a common interview instrument. Data from the two countries were pooled, then preprocessed and analyzed together at the U.S. site using atlas-based parcellation. National differences indicated that thalamic volumes were smaller in ALC in France than the U.S. despite similar alcohol consumption levels in both countries. By contrast, volumes of the hippocampus, amygdala, and cerebellar vermis were smaller in KS in the U.S. than France. Estimated amount of alcohol consumed over a lifetime, duration of alcoholism, and length of sobriety were significant predictors of selective regional brain volumes in France and in the U.S. The common analysis of MRI data enabled identification of discrepancies in brain volume deficits in France and the U.S. that may reflect fundamental differences in the consequences of alcoholism on brain structure between the two countries, possibly related to genetic or environmental differences. Hum Brain Mapp, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc