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. 2017 Jan 1:170:66-73.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.10.040. Epub 2016 Nov 8.

Analysis of alcohol use disorders from the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample: Correlation of brain cortical thickness with neuroticism

Yihong Zhao  1 , Zhi-Liang Zheng  2 , F Xavier Castellanos  3
Affiliations

Analysis of alcohol use disorders from the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample: Correlation of brain cortical thickness with neuroticism

Yihong Zhao et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Abstract

Background: Although differences in both neuroanatomical measures and personality traits, in particular neuroticism, have been associated with alcohol use disorders (AUD), whether lifetime AUD diagnosis alters the relationship between neuroticism and neuroanatomical structures remains to be determined.

Methods: Data from 65 patients with lifetime AUD diagnoses and 65 healthy comparisons (HC) group-matched on age, sex and race were extracted from the Nathan Kline Institute - Rockland Sample data set. Each subject completed personality trait measures and underwent MRI scanning. Cortical thickness measures at 68 Desikan-Killiany Atlas regions were obtained using FreeSurfer 5.3.0. Regression analyses were performed to identify brain regions at which the neuroticism-cortical thickness relationship was altered by lifetime AUD status.

Results: As expected, AUDs had higher neuroticism scores than HCs. Correlations between neuroticism and cortical thickness in the left insula and right fusiform differed significantly across groups. Higher neuroticism score in AUD and the interaction between the insular cortical thickness-neuroticism correlation and AUD status were confirmed in a replication study using the Human Connectome Project data set.

Conclusions: Results confirmed the relationship between neuroticism and AUD and suggests that specific cortical regions, particularly the left insula, represent anatomic substrates underlying this association in AUD.

Keywords: Alcohol use disorders; Chronic pain disorder; Fusiform gyrus; Insula; Neuroticism; Personality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no conflicts of interest related to this research.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Correlation of brain cortical thickness with neuroticism
(A) Left insula cortex thickness. (B) Right fusiform cortex thickness. HC, healthy comparisons; AUD, alcohol use disorders. P-values for the correlations in HC and AUD are both shown.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Validation result using the Human Connectome Project data set
(A) Correlation of neuroticism with AUD. The dot in AUD group indicates an extreme neuroticism score. (B) Correlation of the left insula cortex thickness with neuroticism score. P-values for the correlations in HC and AUDS are both shown. HC, healthy comparisons; AUD, alcohol use disorders.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Vertex-based analysis of the brain cortical regions
(A) Left insula. (B) Right fusiform. Vertices in red represent the region with P-value less than 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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