Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:53-59
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
Neuropsychological functioning in detoxified alcoholics between 18 and 35 years of age
MJ Eckardt, JM Stapleton, RR Rawlings, EZ Davis and DM Grodin
Laboratory of Clinical Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, Md 20892-1250.
OBJECTIVE: The authors determined 1) cognitive functioning in detoxified
alcoholics who had alcohol-related problems for a relatively brief time and
2) relationships between neuropsychological test scores and recent and
chronic alcohol consumption patterns, childhood symptoms of
hyperactivity/minimal brain dysfunction, and extent of familial alcoholism.
METHOD: The subjects were 101 detoxified, drug-free alcoholics between 18
and 35 years of age who had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol (average
of 114 g four to five times per week) for an average of 6 years. An average
of 39 days after the last drink each alcoholic was given an extensive
battery of neuropsychological tests assessing language skills, attention,
motor skills, intelligence, memory, and cognitive functioning related to
the frontal regions of the brain. RESULTS: Only four individuals evidenced
mild cognitive dysfunction. Current psychiatric condition, anxiety and
depressive states, and liver dysfunction were not related to cognition.
Relationships of cognition of lifetime estimates of alcohol consumption
(average of 189 kg) and number of days from last drink to testing were
determined to be nonlinear and suggested that greater lifetime consumption
predicted worse performance and that longer abstinence predicted better
performance. Neither extent of familial alcoholism nor number of childhood
signs and symptoms of hyperactivity/minimal brain dysfunction was
predictive of cognition except that more antisocial behavior predicted
poorer cognitive functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Cognition in young alcoholics,
averaging 6 years of excessive alcohol consumption, was within normal
limits, even though greater lifetime consumption predicted lower test
scores and longer abstinence predicted higher scores.
