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Brain Microstructure in Alcohol Addiction: Characterization of Diffusion-Based MRI Biomarkers, Neuropathological Substrates, and Functional Consequences

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Alcohol and Alcohol-related Diseases

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Abstract

Alcohol consumption is associated with structural alterations in the brain parenchyma. Understanding the longitudinal brain transformations that occur from an alcohol naïve state to alcohol addiction, through cycles of consumption, abstinence and relapse, is crucial to progress towards effective treatments. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and in particular diffusion-weighted approaches, have been a breakthrough for neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry due to their ability to access different aspects of brain anatomy in a non-invasive and longitudinal way. In the last 20 years, this technique has been instrumental in characterizing brain alterations associated to alcohol consumption.

In this chapter, we will first introduce diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging and its most widely adopted formulation, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, describing its utility to look at brain microstructure and its most used biomarkers, mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy; we will then focus on the importance of diffusion tensor imaging in alcohol use disorders, describing the most salient aspects of the pathology that can be captured and dissected; next, we will discuss several recent advances in the field that were possible thanks to the use of diffusion tensor imaging. Finally, we will disclose important limitations of the technique that must be taken into account in the interpretation of alcohol-driven alterations, challenging the conventional view that diffusion tensor imaging can discern between “healthy” and “damaged” microstructure under all circumstances.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Neurociencias, CSIC/UMH, San Juan de Alicante, Alicante, Spain

    Silvia De Santis, Mohamed Kotb Selim & Santiago Canals

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  1. Silvia De Santis
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  2. Mohamed Kotb Selim
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  3. Santiago Canals
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Correspondence to Santiago Canals .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Alcohol Resarch, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Sebastian Mueller

  2. Linköping University, Affective Neuroscience, Linköping, Sweden

    Markus Heilig

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De Santis, S., Selim, M.K., Canals, S. (2023). Brain Microstructure in Alcohol Addiction: Characterization of Diffusion-Based MRI Biomarkers, Neuropathological Substrates, and Functional Consequences. In: Mueller, S., Heilig, M. (eds) Alcohol and Alcohol-related Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32483-3_27

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