メディエイゴ

The brains of alcohol-dependent(1) individuals are affected not only by their own heavy drinking(2), but also by genetic(3) or environmental(4) factors associated with(5) their parents' drinking, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse(6) and Alcoholism(7) (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health(8) (NIH). Researchers found reduced brain growth(9) among alcohol-dependent individuals with a family history(10) of alcoholism or heavy drinking compared to those with no such family history. Their report has been published online(11) in Biological Psychiatry at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00063223 as an article in press.

"This is interesting new information about how biological(12) and environmental factors might interact(13) to affect children of alcoholics(14)," notes George Kunos M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Director, Division of Intramural(15) Clinical and Biological Research, NIAAA.

Many studies have shown that alcohol-dependent men and women have smaller brain volumes than non-alcohol-dependent individuals. It is widely believed that this is due to the toxic effects(16) of ethanol(17), which causes the alcoholic's brain to shrink(18) with aging(19) to a greater extent than(20) the non-alcoholic's.

"Our study is the first to demonstrate(21) that brain size among alcohol-dependent individuals with a family history of alcoholism is reduced even before the onset(22) of alcohol dependence," explains first author(23) Jodi Gilman, B.S., a NIAAA research fellow(24) and Ph.D. candidate(25) at Brown University working with senior author(26) Daniel Hommer, M.D., of the NIAAA Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies (LCTS) and co-author(27) James Bjork, Ph.D., also of the NIAAA/LCTS.