Gray Matter Volume in Left Rostral Middle Frontal and Left Cerebellar Cortices Predicts Frontal Executive Performance in Alcoholic Subjects

Background Alcoholic subjects manifest important deficits in frontal executive function, yet maintain cognitive mental status within normal range. Methods This study searched for volumetric measurements of segmented brain structures obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that would predict executive functions and cognitive mental status in alcoholic subjects. The frontal assessment battery (FAB) and the Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) were applied to alcoholic subjects who underwent MRI. Cortical and subcortical segmentation and corrections were performed using FreeSurfer. Multiple linear regressions analyses having volumetric measures of segmented brain structures as predictors for FAB or MMSE scores as dependent measures were conducted. Sixty alcoholic subjects, 52 males, mean age of 47.2 ± SD 10.4 years, with heavy use of alcohol (mean 284.4 ± SD 275.9 g of alcohol/d) over a long time (mean 32.4 ± SD 11.1 years), showed FAB 11.1 ± SD 3.2 and MMSE of 25.2 ± SD 4.1. Results Multiple regression analyses having left and right side of each segment as predictors showed that gray matter volumes of rostral middle frontal cortex and cerebellar cortex (p