AUTHOR=Yang Kebing , Yang Qingyan , Niu Yajuan , Fan Fengmei , Chen Song , Luo Xingguang , Tan Shuping , Wang Zhiren , Tong Jinghui , Yang Fude , Le Thang M. , Li Chiang-Shan R. , Tan Yunlong 

TITLE=Cortical Thickness in Alcohol Dependent Patients With Apathy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00364

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00364

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Objectives: Many studies reported structural brain changes in patients with alcohol dependence (PADs). However, no studies identified structural correlates of apathy that might aggravate alcohol misuse. Here, we explored regional differences in cortical thickness in PADs relative to healthy controls (HCs), and examined the potential correlation of regional thickness with the severity of apathy. 
Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging data were collected from 33 male PADs and 35 male age- and education-matched HCs. We used the FreeSurfer software to investigate group differences in cortical thickness across 148 regions. Apathy was evaluated using the Lille Apathy Rating Scale-Informant (LARS-I). Regression analyses examined the relationship between cortical thickness of regions of interest and apathy score in PADs. 
Results: Compared to HCs, PADs significantly decreased in the cortical thickness of occipito-temporal cortex (OTC), including the left middle occipital gyrus and occipital pole, right superior occipital gyri, and bilateral lingual gyrus; bilateral superior parietal cortex (SPC), including the right intraparietal sulcus; and bilateral inferior parietal cortex (IPC). Furthermore, the cortical thickness of all of the three regions was negatively correlated with the apathy total scores. The cortical thickness of the IPC was also negatively correlated with the action initiation subscore of the LARS-I. 
Conclusions: The current results indicated that the thickness of bilateral parietal and occipital temporal cortices should be neural markers of apathy in PADs, which added to the literature by identifying the neural bases of a critical clinical feature of individuals with alcoholism.