Correlation study between brain N-acetylaspartate and executive function in alcoholics / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the changes of the N-acetylaspartate(NAA) concentrations in different brain regions and executive function skills in alcohol dependence,and to study the relationship between NAA levels and cognitive functions in subjects.Methods 49 male,non-smoking,alcohol-dependent patients and 45 healthy control subjects were measured with Proton 1H Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).Results Alcoholics had lower NAA/Cr ratios in prefrontal grey matter(GM) (1.59± 0.13) and white matter(WM) (1.58±0.12) regions and performed poorly on executive function tests compared to controls (P＜0.001).NAA/Cr in left prefrontal regions positively correlated with certain parameters of EF testing (number of correct responses 30.37± 3.73,perseverative errors 11.49± 3.39,random errors 6.18± 2.64,categories completed 2.08± 1.59)in alcoholic group (P＜0.01).NAA/Cr in prefrontal WM regions correlated with certain parameters of EF testing in alcoholic group (number of correct responses r=0.379,categories completed r=0.433,P＜ 0.05).Conclusion Long-term,chronic alcoholism will damage neuronal viability and cognitive functions,which suggests that NAA concentrations can reflect the extent of damage of cognitive functions with decreased levels reflecting neuronal loss.