Translational Psychiatry (Mar 2021)
Sex differences in the neuroanatomy of alcohol dependence: hippocampus and amygdala subregions in a sample of 966 people from the ENIGMA Addiction Working Group
- Sally Grace,
- Maria Gloria Rossetti,
- Nicholas Allen,
- Albert Batalla,
- Marcella Bellani,
- Paolo Brambilla,
- Yann Chye,
- Janna Cousijn,
- Anna E Goudriaan,
- Robert Hester,
- Kent Hutchison,
- Izelle Labuschagne,
- Reza Momenan,
- Rocio Martin-Santos,
- Peter Rendell,
- Nadia Solowij,
- Rajita Sinha,
- Chiang-shan Ray Li,
- Lianne Schmaal,
- Zsuzsika Sjoerds,
- Chao Suo,
- Gill Terrett,
- Ruth J. van Holst,
- Dick J. Veltman,
- Murat Yücel,
- Paul Thompson,
- Patricia Conrod,
- Scott Mackey,
- Hugh Garavan,
- Valentina Lorenzetti
Affiliations
- Sally Grace
- Neuroscience of Addiction & Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioural & Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University
- Maria Gloria Rossetti
- Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona
- Nicholas Allen
- Department of Psychology, University of Oregon
- Albert Batalla
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht University
- Marcella Bellani
- Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona
- Paolo Brambilla
- Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico
- Yann Chye
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University
- Janna Cousijn
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
- Anna E Goudriaan
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research and Amsterdam Neuroscience Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam
- Robert Hester
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne
- Kent Hutchison
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder
- Izelle Labuschagne
- Neuroscience of Addiction & Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioural & Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University
- Reza Momenan
- Clinical NeuroImaging Research Core, Office of the Clinical Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
- Rocio Martin-Santos
- Department of Neurosciences and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes
- Peter Rendell
- Neuroscience of Addiction & Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioural & Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University
- Nadia Solowij
- School of Psychology and Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong
- Rajita Sinha
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
- Chiang-shan Ray Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
- Lianne Schmaal
- Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health
- Zsuzsika Sjoerds
- Institute of Psychology. Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden University
- Chao Suo
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University
- Gill Terrett
- Neuroscience of Addiction & Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioural & Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University
- Ruth J. van Holst
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research and Amsterdam Neuroscience Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam
- Dick J. Veltman
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
- Murat Yücel
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University
- Paul Thompson
- Departments of Neurology, Radiology, Engineering, & Psychiatry, Imaging Genetics Center, Mark & Mary Stevens Institute for Neuroimaging & Informatics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
- Patricia Conrod
- Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montreal, CHU Ste Justine Hospital
- Scott Mackey
- Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont
- Hugh Garavan
- Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont
- Valentina Lorenzetti
- Neuroscience of Addiction & Mental Health Program, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioural & Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01204-1
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 11,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 15
Abstract
Abstract Males and females with alcohol dependence have distinct mental health and cognitive problems. Animal models of addiction postulate that the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are partially distinct, but there is little evidence of sex differences in humans with alcohol dependence as most neuroimaging studies have been conducted in males. We examined hippocampal and amygdala subregions in a large sample of 966 people from the ENIGMA Addiction Working Group. This comprised 643 people with alcohol dependence (225 females), and a comparison group of 323 people without alcohol dependence (98 females). Males with alcohol dependence had smaller volumes of the total amygdala and its basolateral nucleus than male controls, that exacerbated with alcohol dose. Alcohol dependence was also associated with smaller volumes of the hippocampus and its CA1 and subiculum subfield volumes in both males and females. In summary, hippocampal and amygdalar subregions may be sensitive to both shared and distinct mechanisms in alcohol-dependent males and females.
