In addition to volume shrinkage of the major gray matter nodes of the frontocerebellar circuit, neuropathological studies have consistently reported compromised white matter integrity indicating that chronic alcoholism may disrupt the white matter fiber bundles linking the nodes (Harper et al., 1985; De la Monte, 1988; Badsberg-Jensen and Pakkenberg, 1993). Postmortem analysis has revealed that white matter in the chronic alcoholic brain is subject to volume shrinkage (Harper and Kril, 1985; De la Monte, 1988), especially in the frontal cortex of alcoholics with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS, Kril and Butterworth, 1997). Indeed, in alcoholics with WKS, white matter impairment is negatively correlated with maximum daily alcohol consumption (Kril and Butterworth, 1997). The volume of cerebellar white matter is also reduced in alcoholics (Phillips et al., 1987), and loss of vermal white matter is reported in alcoholics with ataxia (Baker et al., 1999). However, there are no obvious microscopic white matter lesions in the cerebral hemispheres of uncomplicated alcoholics, and studies of lipid profiles have revealed only minor alterations (Harper and Kril, 1991; Olsson et al., 1996). An increase in the water
