Our data suggest that infiltrating macrophages specifically target the hippocampus as a site of increased infiltration. The hippocampus is a critical center for learning and memory and has been implicated in the pathology associated with AUD for decades, and this increased peripheral immune cell infiltration may, in part, underline this regional vulnerability. Hippocampal volume loss is associated with alcohol consumption in a dose-dependent manner. In a recently published study, researchers followed individuals for over three decades and show that increasing amounts of alcohol consumption are associated with a greater risk of hippocampal atrophy [3]. Alcohol also influences key processes in memory formation and learning by suppressing long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic connections [44–46] and altering proper maturation and maintenance of dendritic spines and synaptic connections within the hippocampus [47, 48].
