Chronic alcoholism has been associated with structural brain changes (Crews & Nixon, 2009; Pfefferbaum et al., 2009; Chanraud et al., 2010), functional brain alterations (Gilman et al., 2010; Pfefferbaum et al., 2001), and neurocognitive impairments (for review, Sullivan & Pfefferbaum, 2005). Notably, adult alcoholics show deficits in executive cognitive functioning (for reviews, Sullivan and Pfefferbaum, 2005; Oscar-Berman and Marinkovic, 2007), likely reflecting neurotoxic changes in frontoparietal connections. Neuroimaging studies have noted atypical white matter microstructure in frontal and parietal networks (Pfefferbaum et al., 2010) and altered task-related brain activity in the dorsal prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex in adults with AUD (Boettiger et al., 2007). Recent research suggests that the frontoparietal network may be compromised relatively early in the course of heavy drinking, as adolescent heavy drinkers exhibit altered frontoparietal activity (Schweinsburg et al., 2010) and white matter microstructure (McQueeny et al., 2009); however, these frontoparietal abnormalities may predate alcohol use.
