Hippocampal Volume in Patients With Alcohol Dependence

Abstract
IN PATIENTS with chronic alcoholism, brain volumes and brain weight are decreased.1,2 Postmortem investigations show reduced white matter3 as well as decreased neuronal density of the cortical gray matter4 with selective neuronal loss in the superior frontal cortex.4-6 Heavy drinking accelerates age-related myelin loss.7 Neuronal loss in all hippocampal ammonic fields and the gyrus dentate has been reported.8 Other investigators have found reductions of the hippocampal white matter only.6