TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - The Alcohol Paradox: Light-to-Moderate Alcohol Consumption, Cognitive Function, and Brain Volume
JO  - Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences
A1  - Davis, Benjamin J. K.
A1  - Vidal, Jean-Sebastian
A1  - Garcia, Melissa
A1  - Aspelund, Thor
A1  - van Buchem, Mark A.
A1  - Jónsdóttir, Maria K.
A1  - Sigurdsson, Sigurdur
A1  - Harris, Tamara B.
A1  - Gudnason, Vilmundur
A1  - Launer, Lenore J.
SP  - 1528
EP  - 1535
VL  - 69
IS  - 12
N2  - BACKGROUND: Studies of older persons show consumption of light-to-moderate amounts of alcohol is positively associated with cognitive function and, separately, is negatively associated with total brain volume (TBV). This is paradoxical as generally, cognitive function is positively associated with TBV. We examined the relationships of TBV, global cognitive function (GCF), and alcohol consumption in a population-based cohort of 3,363 men and women (b. 1907-1935) participating in the Age Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study (2002-2006) and who were free of dementia or mild cognitive impairment METHODS: Drinking status (never, former, and current) and current amount of alcohol consumed were assessed by questionnaire. GCF is a composite score derived from a battery of cognitive tests. TBV, standardized to head size, is estimated quantitatively from brain magnetic resonance imaging. <br><br>RESULTS: Among women and not men, adjusting for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors, current drinkers had significantly higher GCF scores than abstainers and former drinkers (p <.0001); and GCF was associated with amount consumed. TBV was not associated with drinking status or amount consumed in men or women. GCF and TBV did significantly differ in their associations across alcohol categories (p interaction <.001). Within categories of alcohol intake, GCF and TBV were positively associated. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The difference in associations of alcohol intake to brain structure and function suggests there may be unmeasured factors that contribute to maintaining better GCF relative to TBV. However, at higher levels of reasonable alcohol consumption, there may be factors leading to reduced brain volume.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1079-5006
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glu092
ID  - ref1
ER  -