ArticleThe American journal of geriatric psychiatry. Open science, education, and practice2025
Structural Brain Changes Associated With Risky Drinking in Late-Life Depression.
Article in The American journal of geriatric psychiatry. Open science, education, and practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Remission is insufficient: predictors and mechanistic models of recurrence in late-life depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Objectives: As alcohol use is common among older depressives, we assessed structural brain changes over 2 years and examined their association with changes in alcohol consumption. Design: Longitudinal cohort study. Setting: Academic health center. Participants: Adults aged 60 and older who met DSM criteria for a major depressive episode. Intervention: Participants were offered treatment with sertraline. Measurements: Participants completed structured interviews for reported alcohol consumption, had a clinical interview with a study psychiatrist, completed a cognitive battery at baseline and every twelve months, and underwent a 3T structural MRI as baseline and at 2-year follow-up. Volumetric brain changes were calculated. Results: Among 58 participants, 45 were classified as moderate drinkers (≤7 drinks/week) and 13 as risky drinkers (>7 drinks/week). Compared with moderate drinkers, risky drinkers at baseline had significantly thinner cortical thickness and smaller volume in several frontal cortical regions, posterior cingulate, postcentral cortices, right insula, right putamen, and right inferior parietal sulcus. Annualized change in cortical thickness and volume correlated negatively with changes in the average number of drinks per week. Decreased depression severity, increased cognitive function score, and decreased alcohol consumption over the 2-year follow-up were each associated with annualized volumetric changes in specific common regions. Conclusion: These MRI findings demonstrate the adverse impact of alcohol use in older adults on the fronto-striatal circuit. They highlight the need for careful screening and treatment referral for risky alcohol use among older adults with depression.
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