EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ABUSE ON THE AGING BRAIN

描述：(改编自《调查员摘要》) 拟议的研究是为了测试两个相反的模型，为什么中枢神经系统的发病率 酗酒以老年酗酒者最多。被普遍接受的 与年龄相关的脆弱性模型假设老年人的脆弱性更大 大脑对酒精的毒性影响。另一种模式，累积式 影响模型，假设滥用饮酒的持续时间和数量 (不管它发生在寿命的什么时候)和衰老过程 只有老年酗酒者中枢神经系统发病率较高的原因。在……里面 累积效应模型中，年轻的大脑能够补偿 酒精滥用/依赖造成的损害，直到与以下方面相关的认知障碍 正常衰老破坏了这些代偿机制和中枢神经系统的发病率 酗酒/依赖(在生命的早期)变得明显。没有 文献中的数据来检验这些模型的差异性预测 (例如，关于酗酒老年人的中枢神经系统状态的数据 中年后期，但已经禁欲10年或更长时间)，因为 到目前为止，研究只集中在最近戒酒的人身上。 我们将测试年龄如何调节慢性酒精的这两个相反的模型。 使用最先进的方法对中枢神经系统结构和功能的滥用影响。 结构脑成像将用于评估局部形态的大脑 变化；电生理和神经心理测试将评估 信息处理能力的功能变化。这项研究将使用 横断面设计，共5组，每组由30名男性和 30只雌性。该项目的次要目标是确定是否存在 慢性酒精滥用对中枢神经系统功能的影响是否存在性别差异， 以及年龄对这些影响的调节作用。我们的最终目标是 该项目是为了检查其他因素(例如，大脑的“功能储备”、存在 APOE-epsilon4等位基因)可能调节慢性酒精的影响 滥用/依赖和年龄对大脑结构和功能的影响。

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract) The primary goal of the proposed research is to test two opposing models of why the CNS morbidity due to alcohol abuse is greatest in the elderly alcoholic. The generally accepted age-related vulnerability model postulates a greater vulnerability of the older brain to the toxic effects of alcohol. An alternative model, the cumulative effects model, postulates the duration and amount of abusive drinking (regardless of when in the lifespan it took place) and the aging process as the only factors underlying the greater CNS morbidity in the older alcoholic. In the cumulative effects model, the younger brain is able to compensate for the damage done by alcohol abuse/dependence until cognitive losses associated with normal aging undermine these compensatory mechanisms and the CNS morbidity due to alcohol abuse/dependence (earlier in life) becomes apparent. There is no data in the literature to test the differential predictions of these models (e.g., data on the CNS status of elderly individuals who were alcoholic into late middle age, but who have been abstinent for 10 years or more) because research to date has focused only on recently abstinent individuals. We will test these two opposing models of how age modulates chronic alcohol abuse effects on CNS structure and function using state-of-the-art methods. Structural brain imaging will be used to assess regional morphological brain changes; electrophysiological and neuropsychological testing will assess functional changes in information processing abilities. The study will use a cross-sectional design with five groups, each group consisting of 30 males and 30 females. The secondary goal of this project is to determine whether there are gender differences in the effects of chronic alcohol abuse on CNS function, and the matter in which age modulates these effects. Our final goal in the project is to examine other factors (e.g., brain "functional reserve," presence of the APOE-epsilon4 allele) that may modulate the effects of chronic alcohol abuse/dependence and age on brain structure and function.