Several recent studies by Fein and colleagues have focused on the effects of chronic alcohol dependence in treatment-naïve active alcoholics. For example, in a study by Fein and colleagues (2002), structural MRI revealed no significant differences between TNAD and non-alcoholic controls in overall or regional gray matter volumes. Moreover, white matter and temporal cortex, which usually show reduced volume in AD samples drawn from treatment, did not differ between treatment-naïve alcoholics and control subjects. However, age by group interactions reflected an age-related reduction of whole brain, prefrontal, and parietal gray matter volumes in TNAD individuals that was greater than the age-related decline in these volumes in control subjects. A second study, with a larger sample that included both men and women, (Fein, 2010 IN PRESS) replicated the above finding of no significant overall or regional reductions in TNAD, supporting the hypothesis that the neurological effects on non-treatment seeking alcohol dependent individuals are less severe than in those who seek treatment. The age by alcoholism interactions for gray matter volumes were also replicated in both TNAD men and women. Partial correlation
