Lower cortical thickness and accelerated brain aging in individuals engaging in at-risk alcohol use

In view of recent global trends in alcohol use, it becomes increasingly relevant to characterize health outcomes related to alcohol use. Previous studies that reported associations between alcohol use and brain health have not validated self-reported alcohol intake, considered only a very narrow demographic strata, or a limited subset of potential confounders and cortical regions for the assessment of brain health. This study aimed to analyze several neuroimaging-derived phenotypes and their associations with at-risk alcohol use in the general population. At-risk alcohol use was operationalized as the regular consumption of more than two units of alcohol at least twice a week. Cortical thickness, gray matter volume, and brain age gaps were derived from T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and compared between population-based individuals regularly engaging in at-risk alcohol use (n = 123) versus those who don’t (n = 403). Self-reported alcohol use was validated across groups by comparing gamma-glutamyltransferase levels. At-risk alcohol use was associated with higher gamma-glutamyltransferase levels and lower regional cortical thickness across all four lobes of the brain. We also observed higher brain age gaps of 1.21 years on average (CI: 0.26 to 2.15, p = 0.013) in individuals engaging in at-risk alcohol use. No associations with subcortical gray matter were detected. At-risk alcohol use was related to poor brain health as indicated by cortical thinning and accelerated brain aging in the general population. The findings underscore the potentially deleterious associations between alcohol use and neuroimaging-derived phenotypes. These findings, and particularly the accelerated brain aging, are increasingly relevant in view of recent global trends in alcohol use.