Dynamic responses of selective brain white matter fiber tracts to binge alcohol and recovery in the rat.

摘要: To determine the dynamics of white matter vulnerability to excessive alcohol consumption, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used in an animal model exposure. Quantitative, vivo fiber tracking results are presented from rats with DTI conducted at 3 time points: baseline; after 4 days intragastric blood levels ~250mg/dL; and one week recovery. Binge followed by a sobriety resulted rapidly reversible decreases fractional anisotropy (FA), measure coherence tracts, callosal genu fimbria-fornix but not splenium; increases mean diffusivity (MD), index freely diffusing water tissue, selective fimbria-fornix. These effects were confirmed tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). The directionality changes metrics reproduce those observed human alcoholism. That single exposure binge can cause substantial transient detectable demonstrates potential for rapid neuroplasticity.