Binge drinking can damage brain regions used for processing facial expressions.Byline: ANI Washington, Aug 12 (ANI): A new study by researchers from Boston University School of Medicine Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. It is an American medical school located in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. (BUSM BUSM Boston University School of Medicine ) has revealed that excessive, chronic drinking can lead to brain damage on multiple levels, including the development of emotional abnormalities that can interfere with healthy interpersonal relationships. The emotional changes experienced by a long-term chronic alcoholic cover a broad spectrum. Some of these changes, apathy and emotional flatness are reminiscent of those seen in patients with bilateral frontal lobe damage or in patients with right-hemisphere damage. Other abnormalities are subtle. In this study, researchers compared abstinent long-term alcoholics to healthy nonalcoholic controls by using functional magnetic resonance imaging functional magnetic resonance imaging n. Abbr. fMRI Magnetic resonance imaging that provides three-dimensional images of the brain based on changes in blood flow and that can be correlated with brain functions. (fMRI) that focused on abnormalities in temporal limbic limbic /lim·bic/ (lim´bik) pertaining to a limbus, or margin; see also under system. lim·bic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characterized by a limbus. 2. (amygdala amygdala /amyg·da·la/ (ah-mig´dah-lah) 1. almond. 2. an almond-shaped structure. 3. corpus amygdaloideum. a·myg·da·la n. pl. and hippocampus) brain activation to emotionally expressive faces. Employing both verbal (word) and non-verbal (face) materials in an effort to contrast relative hemispheric sensitivities to the cumulative effects of alcohol abuse, the researchers found abstinent long-term alcoholics showed decreased and abnormal brain activity when looking at facial expressions, in particular in the amygdala and hippocampus areas of the brain. The researchers said that the results provide unique neuroimaging evidence of neurophysiological neu·ro·phys·i·ol·o·gy n. The branch of physiology that deals with the functions of the nervous system. neu changes in emotional functioning associated with chronic alcoholism. "The findings also concur with clinical reports documenting interpersonal difficulties in this population "Since "reading facial expressions" is an important part of social interaction, alcoholics as well as other previously addicted groups, may be suffering from brain abnormalities in parts of the brain that control emotional perception and memory," said author Marlene Oscar Berman, PhD, a professor of neurology (Neuropsychology neuropsychology Science concerned with the integration of psychological observations on behaviour with neurological observations on the central nervous system (CNS), including the brain. ) and psychiatry and Director of BUSM's Laboratory of Neuropsychology. "Furthermore, these results reveal neural substrates underlying alcoholism-related emotional anomalies and impairments of brain reward circuitry that mediate addictions such as alcoholism," she added. The findings appear in the August 11 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion