2023-11-11 11:11:00
We all know the damage that drinking alcohol can cause. Among them, scientists have notably observed in previous studies a generalized cortical thinning in people suffering from disorders linked to excessive consumption of these drinks.
Alcohol in fact directly impacts certain regions of the cortex, this layer of gray matter located on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres, containing the cell bodies of neurons and responsible for the highest functions of the brain. A disease fortunately reversible in a few months, scientists have just discovered.
Isn’t alcohol cool?
In order not to experience problems linked to alcohol consumption, we give it to you in a thousand words, the best is… to no longer consume alcohol. Scientists were well aware of this. What they did not know until now is the duration of withdrawal necessary for the brain to recover from the damage linked to excessive consumption of these alcoholic beverages.
The members of the study, published in the scientific journal Alcohol, therefore performed brain scans on several participants suffering from disorders linked to such consumption at different times during their withdrawal. Each time, the scientists focused on the cortical thickness of 34 regions, to be able to analyze their variations over time and weaning.
Among the guinea pigs, 68 had stopped drinking alcohol for a week, 88 for 1 month and 40 for 7.3 months. At the same time, they measured the thickness of the cortex of 45 people who had never suffered from this disorder, then once more 9 months later to be sure that the area observed did not vary naturally.
7 months
The results are clear. The participants saw their cortical thickness increase as they weaned, particularly rapidly in the first month, then continuously. From 7.3 months, this thickness was comparable to that of people without alcohol use disorders, reports Science Alert.
The scientific media still has some reservations regarding these results. Although the study is encouraging and provides an overview of our brain’s ability to recover from such consumption, the panel of participants remains too small and not very diverse to draw any major conclusions. But that’s already taken!
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