101607: Alcohol-Related Neurodegeneration and Recovery

About the Course:

Human studies have found alcoholics to have a smaller brain size than moderate drinkers; however, these studies are complicated by many uncontrollable factors, including timing and amount of alcohol use. Animal experiments, which can control many factors, have established that alcohol can cause damage to brain cells (i.e., neurons), which results in their loss of structure or function (i.e., neurodegeneration) in multiple brain regions, similar to the damage found in human alcoholics. Despite the negative consequences of heavy drinking, there is hope of recovery with abstinence, which in animal models can result in neural stem-cell proliferation and the formation of new neurons and other brain cells, indicative of brain growth.

Journal/Publisher:

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Publication Date:

Alcohol Research and Health, Volume 21, Number 4, 2008

Author

Fulton T. Crews, Ph.D.

About the Author:

Fulton T. Crews is professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry and director of the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for health care professionals, especially addiction counselors, psychologists, mental health counselors, social workers, and nurses who seek knowledge about alcohol-related neurodegeneration and recovery. It is appropriate for intermediate to advanced levels of participants’ knowledge.

Course Objectives:

1. Explain the advantages of using animal models to study alcoholic neurodegeneration, and discuss human and animal research findings.

2. Describe animal models of alcoholic brain damage, including the binge-drinking model.

3. Identify mechanisms of alcohol-related neurodegeneration and how those mechanisms can be blocked.

4. Discuss brain regeneration during abstinence and mechanisms of abstinence-increased cell genesis and brain growth.