Quit Drinking, Gain Brainpower

Ivanhoe Newswire
Monday, December 18, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Putting down the bottle could lead to better brain functioning in people with a dependency on alcohol.

In a new study that used sophisticated brain images to look at brain volume and other factors, investigators found alcoholics who stopped drinking actually regained some of the brainpower they lost due to years of drinking.

The findings on the brain images were borne out by better scores on standard tests of attention and concentration.

The research was conducted among 10 men and five women who were tested both before and then again a about a month after they quit drinking. None of the people took any medications, like antidepressants, to help them with their withdrawal from alcohol.

Overall, the abstainers gained almost 2 percent in brain volume and showed significant signs of improvement in brain chemistry by the end of the study. Only one of the participants -- the person with the longest history of alcoholism -- continued to lose brain volume, and the loss was considered small and relatively insignificant.

In an accompanying commentary, Yale University professor Graeme Mason, Ph.D., calls for doctors who treat alcoholism to be made aware of the study, noting it could go a long way toward motivating drinkers to quit. "Patients often become discouraged from the physical and cognitive difficulties of achieving and maintaining sobriety," he writes. This research provides "a broad set of concrete, tangible, and rapid benefits of sobriety: cognition, chemistry and brain volume."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Brain, 2007;130:36-47