Lower cortical thickness and increased brain aging in adults with cocaine use disorder

Affiliation
Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich ,Munich ,Germany
Schinz, David;
Affiliation
Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich ,Munich ,Germany
Schmitz-Koep, Benita;
Affiliation
Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich ,Munich ,Germany
Tahedl, Marlene;
Affiliation
Digital Management & Transformation, SRH Fernhochschule - The Mobile University ,Riedlingen ,Germany
Teckenberg, Timo;
Affiliation
Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich ,Munich ,Germany
Schultz, Vivian;
Affiliation
Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich ,Munich ,Germany
Schulz, Julia;
Affiliation
Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich ,Munich ,Germany
Zimmer, Claus;
Affiliation
Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich ,Munich ,Germany
Sorg, Christian;
GND
123460980
ORCID
0000-0002-9940-099X
Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital ,Jena ,Germany
Gaser, Christian;
Affiliation
Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich ,Munich ,Germany
Hedderich, Dennis M.

Background: Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is a global health issue with severe behavioral and cognitive sequelae. While previous evidence suggests a variety of structural and age-related brain changes in CUD, the impact on both, cortical thickness and brain age measures remains unclear.

Methods: Derived from a publicly available data set (SUDMEX_CONN), 74 CUD patients and 62 matched healthy controls underwent brain MRI and behavioral-clinical assessment. We determined cortical thickness by surface-based morphometry using CAT12 and Brain Age Gap Estimate (BrainAGE) via relevance vector regression. Associations between structural brain changes and behavioral-clinical variables of patients with CUD were investigated by correlation analyses.

Results: We found significantly lower cortical thickness in bilateral prefrontal cortices, posterior cingulate cortices, and the temporoparietal junction and significantly increased BrainAGE in patients with CUD [mean (SD) = 1.97 (±3.53)] compared to healthy controls ( p  < 0.001, Cohen’s d  = 0.58). Increased BrainAGE was associated with longer cocaine abuse duration.

Conclusion: Results demonstrate structural brain abnormalities in CUD, particularly lower cortical thickness in association cortices and dose-dependent, increased brain age.

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License Holder: Copyright © 2023 Schinz, Schmitz-Koep, Tahedl, Teckenberg, Schultz, Schulz, Zimmer, Sorg, Gaser and Hedderich.

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