The frontal cortex is notably damaged in ARD. With respect to cortical regions in uncomplicated alcoholism, various methods have shown significant, widespread shrinkage of both cortical gray and white matter with corresponding increases in CSF-filled spaces (Cardenas et al. 2007; Jang et al. 2007; Jernigan et al. 1991a; Mechtcheriakov et al. 2007; Pfefferbaum 1992). In particular, older (older than age 50) but not younger adult alcoholics show disproportionate deficits in both gray- and white-matter cortical volume, especially in the frontal lobes, when volumes are statistically adjusted for brain tissue decline associated with normal aging (Cardenas et al. 2005, 2007; Pfefferbaum et al. 1997). This is the case even in comparisons made in groups selected on alcohol consumption, where older alcoholics have consumed equivalent amounts over their lifetime as younger alcoholics.
