Abstract
Patients with severe chronic alcoholism have decreased rates of glucose metabolism in the medial frontal lobe and correlated abnormalities of neuropsychological functioning. The potential influence of family history of alcoholism has not been examined in these patients. In a retrospective study, we used neuropsychological tests and neuroimaging employing [18F]flourodeoxyglucose with positron emission tomography to study 48 older subjects who had histories of severe, chronic alcohol dependence. These patients ware divided into two groups: 27 with a first-degree relative with chronic alcoholism and 21 patients without first-degree relative with chronic alcoholism. No differences were found between groups on either neuropsychological or neuroimaging tests. These results suggest that a family history of alcoholism does not moderate the damaging effects of severe chronic alcoholism on the functioning of the medial frontal lobe.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 105-110 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1998 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Alcoholism
- Family history
- Neuroimaging
- Neuropsychological tests
- Positron emission tomography
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Toxicology