Regular alcohol consumption decreases the volume of the brain. Stopping drinking allows it to recover quickly, except for the hippocampus, whose deterioration is irreversible.
Have you just successfully completed your dry January? If so, know that this period of abstinence has allowed almost all the regions of your brain to recover their initial volume, diminished by the regular consumption of alcohol.
These are the results ofa new study based on 85 alcohol-dependent people (204 drinks per month over the last 8 years for men, and 108 drinks over the last 6 years for women). “The objective of this study was to determine volume reductions in functionally important cortical and subcortical regions of alcohol consumption and their changes in the short term (1 week to 1 month) and long term (1 at 7 months)”, specify the researchers.
The hippocampus never recovers
MRIs of the patients revealed that the volume of the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex increased again over time as soon as they stopped drinking. In contrast, the hippocampus, which plays an important role in remembering and creating new memories, never recovers. It should also be noted that some participants recovered less well than others, and in very different ways, depending on their age, gender, genetic factors, family history of alcohol addiction, smoking, etc.
“This gray matter plasticity during a period of abstinence may have important neurobiological and neurocognitive implications, and it may contribute to an individual’s ability to maintain abstinence through different phases” of withdrawal, the authors note.
10% of adults today are in difficulty with alcohol
Although its consumption is steadily decreasing in France, 10% of adults are now in difficulty with alcohol. Excessive consumption leads to hepatic, cardiovascular and neurological complications as well as cancers, and alcohol remains the second leading cause of death in our country. About 13.6% of adults never drink and 9.7% drink every day (14.6% of men and 4.9% of women). Wine remains by far the most consumed drink*.
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