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Gender may influence how heavy drinking affects brain activity
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Heavy drinking in adolescence affected brain activity differently between males and females, according to research presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress.
“We found more changes in brain electrical activity in male subjects than in females, which was a surprise, as we expected it would be the other way around,” Outi Kaarre, MD, of the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital, said in a press release. “This means that male brain electrical functioning is changed more than female brains by long-term alcohol use.”
To determine if long-term alcohol use in adolescence affected cortical activity differently between males and females, researchers conducted transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements among 27 young adults (40.7% males) with heavy 10-year alcohol use in adolescence and 25 controls (48% males) with little to no alcohol use.
Linear mixed model analysis indicated a statistically significant group interaction in the GABA-A-ergic function between females (P = .003) and males (P < .001).
A group difference was also found in the GABA-B-ergic function in males (P < .001).
The significant difference in the GABA-A-ergic function was frontally located.
GABA-B-ergic function was topographically differently distributed among males and controls.
Mean GABA-A-ergic and GABA-B-ergic function latencies differed between groups.
Commenting on the study, Wim van den Brink, MD, PhD, of the University of Amsterdam, said the findings are very interesting, especially since young women are catching up with young men when it comes to drinking and heavy drinking in Europe.
“This may also mean that a different group of women is getting involved in early heavy alcohol use than used to be the case; in other words, when heavy drinking occurs more frequently and tends to become the norm, women do not need to have some aberrant personal characteristic to become an early heavy user of alcohol,” van den Brink said.
“The finding of a different EEG-pattern in male and female early heavy drinkers may indeed have important consequences for the treatment of male and female patients with an alcohol use disorder. One of the most recent new medications for the treatment of alcohol dependence is the GABA-B agonist Baclofen, which has shown mixed results which may be explained by this work.” – by Amanda Oldt
Reference:
Kaarre O, et al. Gender differences in the alcohol-related alterations in cortical activity — A combined TMS-EEG study. Presented at: European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress; Sept. 2-5, 2017; Paris.
Disclosures: The researchers report that PhD work has been supported by the Finnish Psychiatric Association, the Finnish Association of Adolescent Psychiatry, the Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies, the Paulo Foundation and the State Research Funding.