Thus, brain morphological abnormalities appear to occur in somewhat similar brain regions with similar neurocognitive deficits in AUD with and without comorbid substance abuse. To determine potential unique group differences, there is the need to directly contrast the magnitude and spatial distribution of structural brain abnormalities and their associated neurocognitive abnormalities in AUD with and without comorbid substance abuse. Directly contrasting structural brain abnormalities and their neurocognitive correlates in AUD with and without substance abuse will help design more efficacious treatment strategies tailored to individuals with PSUD or AUD. In this context, we showed recently that one-month-abstinent treatment-seeking PSUD individuals have prefrontal metabolite concentrations that were uniquely different from those of alcohol dependent individuals at similar abstinence duration, reflecting neuronal and glial dysfunction partly related to neurocognition (Abé et al., 2013).
