Highlights
- •What is the primary question addressed by this study?Is light to moderate alcohol use associated with biomarker of slower brain aging among older community dwelling adults?
- •What is the main finding of this study?Heavier drinkers, those drinking more than 2 drinks per day, showed older than expected predicted brain age; those drinking less did not show younger than expected predicted brain age relative to nondrinkers.
- •What is the meaning of the finding?Light and moderate alcohol use does not appear to be protective against age-related structural changes in the brain, but heavier alcohol use is associated with evidence of greater neurodegeneration with age.
Abstract
Objectives
Observational studies have suggested that moderate alcohol use is associated with
reduced risk of dementia. However, the nature of this association is not understood.
We investigated whether light to moderate alcohol use may be associated with slower
brain aging, among a cohort of older community-dwelling adults using a biomarker of
brain age based on structural neuroimaging measures.
Design
Cross-sectional observational study.
Participants
Well-characterized members of a longitudinal cohort study who underwent neuroimaging.
We categorized the 163 participants (mean age 76.7 ± 7.7, 60% women) into current
nondrinkers, light drinkers (1–7 drinks/week) moderate drinkers (>7–14 drinks/week),
or heavier drinkers (>14 drinks/week).
Measurements
We calculated brain-predicted age using structural MRIs processed with the BrainAgeR
program, and calculated the difference between brain-predicted age and chronological
age (brain-predicted age difference, or brain-PAD). We used analysis of variance to
determine if brain-PAD differed across alcohol groups, controlling for potential confounders.
Results
Brain-PAD differed across alcohol groups (F[3, 150] = 4.02; p = 0.009) with heavier
drinkers showing older brain-PAD than light drinkers (by about 6 years). Brain-PAD
did not differ across light, moderate, and nondrinkers. Similar results were obtained
after adjusting for potentially mediating health-related measures, and after excluding
individuals with a history of heavier drinking.
Discussion
Among this sample of healthy older adults, consumption of more than 14 drinks/week
was associated with a biomarker of advanced brain aging. Light and moderate drinking
was not associated with slower brain aging relative to non-drinking.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 20, 2023
Accepted:
February 15,
2023
Received in revised form:
February 14,
2023
Received:
December 8,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
