Compensation patterns and altered functional connectivity in alcohol use disorder with and without Korsakoff's syndrome.

Brain Commun

Normandie Université, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, PhIND 'Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders', Team NeuroPresage, Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, 14000 Caen, France.

Published: September 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • Alcohol use disorder is a chronic condition that leads to harmful impacts on a person’s overall health, which can also result in Korsakoff's syndrome, a serious complication marked by significant memory problems.
  • This study aimed to analyze how long-term alcohol consumption affects brain connectivity, specifically in areas known as the fronto-cerebellar and Papez circuits, and to identify unique connectivity issues in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome.
  • Researchers conducted neuropsychological assessments and resting-state functional MRI on both healthy individuals and those with alcohol use disorder to discover reduced connectivity efficiency in the brain's circuits and to explore the relationship between brain function and cognitive abilities in the context of these conditions.

Article Abstract

Alcohol use disorder is a chronic disease characterized by an inappropriate pattern of drinking, resulting in negative consequences for the individual's physical, mental and social health. Korsakoff's syndrome is a complication of alcohol use disorder and is characterized by severe memory and executive deficits. The fronto-cerebellar and Papez circuits are structurally affected in patients with alcohol use disorder with and without Korsakoff's syndrome. The first objective of the present study was to measure the effect of chronic and excessive alcohol consumption on resting-state functional connectivity of these two functional brain networks. The second objective was to identify, for the first time, resting-state functional connectivity abnormalities specific to amnesic patients with Korsakoff's syndrome. In the present study, a neuropsychological assessment and a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging examination were conducted in 31 healthy controls (43.6 ± 6.1 years) and 46 patients (46.6 ± 9.1 years) with alcohol use disorder including 14 patients with Korsakoff's syndrome (55.5 ± 5.3 years) to examine the effect of chronic and heavy alcohol consumption on functional connectivity of the fronto-cerebellar and the Papez circuits at rest and the specificity of functional connectivity changes in Korsakoff's syndrome compared to alcohol use disorder without Korsakoff's syndrome. The resting-state functional connectivity analyses focused on the nodes of the fronto-cerebellar and Papez circuits and combined region of interest and graph theory approaches, and whether these alterations are associated with the neuropsychological profile. In patients pooled together compared to controls, lower global efficiency was observed in the fronto-cerebellar circuit. In addition, certain regions of the fronto-cerebellar and Papez circuits were functionally hyperconnected at rest, which positively correlated with executive functions. Patients with Korsakoff's syndrome showed lower resting-state functional connectivity, lower local and global efficiency within the Papez circuit compared to those without Korsakoff's syndrome. Resting-state functional connectivity positively correlated with several cognitive scores in patients with Korsakoff's syndrome. The fronto-cerebellar and Papez circuits, two normally well-segregated networks, are functionally altered by alcohol use disorder. The Papez circuit attempts to compensate for deficits in the fronto-cerebellar circuit, albeit insufficiently as evidenced by patients' overall lower cognitive performance. Korsakoff's syndrome is characterized by altered functional connectivity in the Papez circuit known to be centrally involved in memory.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11414044PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae294DOI Listing

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