FUNCTIONAL NEURORADIOLOGY Assessment of abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects: an fMRI study Deepika Bagga & Namita Singh & Sadhana Singh & Shilpi Modi & Pawan Kumar & D. Bhattacharya & Mohan L. Garg & Subash Khushu Received: 28 June 2013 /Accepted: 29 August 2013 /Published online: 13 November 2013 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Abstract Introduction Chronic alcohol abuse has been traditionally associated with impaired cognitive abilities. The deficits are most evident in higher order cognitive functions, such as abstract reasoning, problem solving and visuospatial process- ing. The present study sought to increase current understand- ing of the neuropsychological basis of poor abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects using functional mag- netic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods An abstract reasoning task-based fMRI study was carried out on alcohol-dependent subjects (n =18) and healthy controls (n =18) to examine neural activation pattern. The study was carried out using a 3-T whole-body magnetic reso- nance scanner. Preprocessing and post processing was performed using SPM 8 software. Results Behavioral data indicated that alcohol-dependent sub- jects took more time than controls for performing the task but there was no significant difference in their response accuracy. Analysis of the fMRI data indicated that for solving abstract reasoning-based problems, alcohol-dependent subjects showed enhanced right frontoparietal neural activation involving inferior frontal gyrus, post central gyrus, superior parietal lobule, and occipito-temporal gyrus. Conclusions The extensive activation observed in alcohol dependents as compared to controls suggests that alcohol dependents recruit additional brain areas to meet the behav- ioral demands for equivalent task performance. The results are consistent with previous fMRI studies suggesting decreased neural efficiency of relevant brain networks or compensatory mechanisms for the execution of task for showing an equiva- lent performance. Keywords Alcoholism . fMRI . Abstract reasoning . Brain . Functional Introduction Brain damage is a common and potentially severe conse- quence of long-term, heavy alcohol consumption. There is considerable evidence that prolonged, excessive alcohol con- sumption results in neuropsychological deficits [1, 2]. In particular, abstract reasoning, visuospatial, and problem solv- ing abilities seem to be frequently impaired after years of heavy alcohol consumption [3]. These are the cognitive oper- ations linked to the frontal and the parietal cortex that guide complex behavior over time through planning, decision- making, and response control. Structural studies have shown diffuse bilateral cortical atrophy in alcohol-dependent subjects with the frontoparietal areas and cerebellum showing the earliest and most extensive shrinkage [4–6]. Thus, these stud- ies add to the evidence that impairment in these cognitive functions is a characteristic sequela of chronic heavy drinking. Several studies of alcoholism have reported significant corre- lations between intellectual impairment and cerebral atrophy [7, 8]. Also, another study by Rogers et al. have shown that D. Bagga : N. Singh : S. Singh : S. Modi : P. Kumar : S. Khushu NMR Research Centre, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Timarpur, Delhi, India D. Bhattacharya Department of Psychiatry, Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt, India M. L. Garg Department of Biophysics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India S. Khushu (*) NMR Research Centre, INMAS, DRDO, Lucknow Road Timarpur, Delhi, India e-mail: skhushu@inmas.drdo.in Neuroradiology (2014) 56:69–77 DOI 10.1007/s00234-013-1281-3