Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) is an imaging technique that uses intravenous injection of a radiotracer (Technetium99) to image brain activity. We used this technique to study functional brain changes associated with alcoholism.
To date, we have acquired 16 SPECT scans (13 males, 3 females) from patients who had recently completed an outpatient detoxification program with either lorazepam (LZ) or carbamazepine (CBZ), and had been absent from alcohol and other drugs for a total of 7 to 10 days. In addition, 10 SPECT scans have been obtained from healthy controls.
A preliminary analysis of the initial 7 patients and 7 controls reveals widespread decreases in activity in cortical secondary association areas in the patient group. In addition, alcohol patients showed increased activity in the right medial temporal lobe.
We are still acquiring data, and hope to complete larger between-group analyses (patients vs. controls) later this fall. We will also investigate 2 additional areas: 1) whether brain function differs depending on the detoxification medication used (LZ vs. CBZ), and 2) whether the functional changes observed in alcohol patients are more extensive in individuals with numerous previous detoxifixations or periodic binge drinking.
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