How long-term drinking affects brain fluid balance and dementia risk
Chronic Alcohol, Dementia, and CNS Fluid Homeostasis
This project looks at how long-term heavy drinking may change brain fluid flow and raise the risk of dementia in middle-aged and older adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Yale University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Haven, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11142469 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you take part, researchers will study whether alcohol changes how your brain moves cerebrospinal fluid and clears waste through the glymphatic and lymphatic systems. They will use brain imaging and fluid measurements in people alongside laboratory experiments to link heavy drinking to enlarged brain ventricles, inflammation, and buildup of amyloid protein. The team will combine human data with experimental models to understand how these changes might contribute to vascular forms of dementia. Results are intended to point toward ways to protect brain clearance systems or identify people at higher risk.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are middle-aged or older adults with a history of heavy drinking or alcohol use disorder, especially those with early cognitive symptoms or evidence of vascular brain changes.
Not a fit: People without significant alcohol exposure or whose dementia is caused by unrelated conditions are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal how alcohol harms brain clearance pathways and lead to strategies to prevent or reduce dementia risk in heavy drinkers.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have linked heavy drinking to enlarged ventricles and animal studies suggest impaired glymphatic clearance, but direct human interventions to fix these pathways remain largely untested.
Where this research is happening
New Haven, United States
- Yale University — New Haven, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mason, Graeme F — Yale University
- Study coordinator: Mason, Graeme F
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.