Alcohol and Memory: Amnesia and Short-Term Memory Function During Experimentally Induced Intoxication
JOHN S. TAMERIN M.D.1,
SHELDON WEINER M.D.2,
ROGER POPPEN PH.D.3,
PETER STEINGLASS M.D.4, , and
JACK H. MENDELSON M.D.5
1 Director of Research, Silver Hill Foundation, Valley Rd., New Canaan, Conn. 06840
2 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.
3 Rehabilitation Institute, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill.
4 Clinical Associate, Silver Hill Foundation, Valley Rd., New Canaan, Conn. 06840
5 Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
This study represents the first attempt to examine the alcoholic blackout during a sustained period of experimental intoxication. Thirteen male alcoholics with histories of blackouts drank large amounts of beverage alcohol for 12 to 14 days. Daily assessments of short-term memory and 24-hour recall were made. Short-term memory was significantly and progressively impaired with increasing levels of intoxication. Impairment of 24-hour recall was also related to level of intoxication on the preceding day. Blackouts occurred, particularly among subjects with impaired short-term memory function. Conversely, subjects with intact short-term memory had normal 24-hour recall.
