New
Service for TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com
readers...roll mouse over, click on
highlighted links in stories to review items
from Amazon
Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
Study
ties ending moderate drinking to Depression
Newswise — Scientific evidence has long
suggested that moderate drinking offers some
protection against heart disease, certain
types of stroke and some forms of cancer.
But new research shows that stopping
drinking – including at moderate levels –
may lead to health problems including
depression and a reduced capacity of the
brain to produce new neurons, a process
called neurogenesis.
The findings from the Bowles Center for
Alcohol Studies at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill appear online in the
journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
“Our research in an animal model establishes
a causal link between abstinence from
alcohol drinking and depression,” said study
senior author Clyde W. Hodge, Ph.D.,
professor of psychiatry and pharmacology in
the UNC School of Medicine.
“In mice that voluntarily drank alcohol for
28 days, depression-like behavior was
evident 14 days after termination of alcohol
drinking. This suggests that people who stop
drinking may experience negative mood states
days or weeks after the alcohol has cleared
their systems,”
The mice were tested for depression-like
behavior using a widely recognized method
called the Porsolt Swim Test. The mice are
placed inside a beaker filled with water and
allowed to swim for six minutes.
“Mice are good swimmers and have no problem
completing this task. The amount of time
they spend immobile (floating and not
swimming) is measured as an index of despair
or depression-like behavior. The more time a
mouse spends immobile, the more “depressed”
it is thought to be.
“This research provides the first evidence
that long-term abstinence from moderate
alcohol drinking – rather than drinking per
se – leads to a negative mood state,
depression,” Hodge said.
The study also found that the emergence of
depression was associated with a profound
reduction in the number of neural stem cells
(cells that will become neurons) and in the
number of new neurons in a brain region
known as the hippocampus.
This brain region is critical for normal
learning and memory, and recent studies show
that the development of neurons in the
hippocampus may regulate mood, Hodge said.
According to the researcher, the negative
mood state in mice may represent depression
in humans and appears to be linked to a
diminished capacity of the brain to form new
neurons.
“Thus, people who drink moderate alcohol
socially, or for potential health benefits,
may experience negative mood or diminished
cognitive abilities due to a loss of the
brain’s ability to form new neurons,” he
said.
But the study also found that treatment with
an antidepressant drug during 14 days of
abstinence prevented the development of
depression and restored the capability of
the brain to produce new cells.
“Treatment with antidepressant drugs may
help people who suffer from both alcoholism
and depression by restoring the brain’s
ability to form new neurons,” Hodge said.
“Moreover, this research provides an animal
model of alcohol-related depression with
which we can begin to fully understand the
neurobiology underlying co-occurring
alcoholism and depression, and thereby
develop successful treatment options.
“At this point it appears that blunted
neurogenesis may underlie the effects of
abstinence from alcohol drinking on mood,
but understanding the mechanisms by which
this occurs is a key challenge for future
research.”
Several co-authors, all from UNC, also
contributed to the study: Jennie R.
Stevenson, neurobiology graduate student;
Jason P. Schroeder, Ph.D., and Kimberly
Nixon, Ph.D., research associates with the
Bowles Center; Joyce Besheer, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of psychiatry; and
Fulton T Crews, Ph.D., director of the
Bowles Center and professor of psychiatry
and pharmacology.
The research was supported by grants from
the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism (a component of the National
Institutes of Health) and by the Bowles
Center for Alcohol Studies.
Stevenson received a UNC Graduate School
Impact award in 2006 and the Research
Society on Alcoholism’s Gordis Award in 2005
for aspects of this work.
...
...
...