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- Title
IS THERE COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN CLINICALLY 'HEALTHY' ABSTINENT ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE?
- Authors
Davies, Simon J. C.; Pandit, Smita A.; Feeney, Adrian; Stevenson, Brian J.; Kerwin, Robert W.; Nutt, David J.; Marshall, E. Jane; Boddington, Stephen; Lingford-Hughes, Anne
- Abstract
Aims: The aim of this study was to determine neuropsychological performance in apparently cognitively, mentally, and physically healthy abstinent alcohol-dependent subjects compared with control subjects who were recruited for a number of different neuroimaging studies. Methods: All subjects completed a battery of neuropsychological tests as part of the neuroimaging protocol. Results: The group dependent on alcohol performed as well as controls on a non-verbal memory test and verbal fluency but performed worse in the verbal memory task, Trail A +8, and total IQ derived from Silverstein's short-form of the WAIS-R. However, the IQ performance of both groups was above average, in both groups, age was associated with slower performance on the Trail A + B task. In the alcohol-dependent group, severity of dependence and length of abstinence was not associated with performance of any task. Conclusions: In this apparently clinically healthy population of abstinent alcohol-dependent subjects, frontal lobe dysfunction was detectable using the Trail A + B and digit symbol tasks. This was despite above-average WAIS-R IQ scores. Consideration needs to be given to routine incorporation of cognitive testing in alcohol dependence since subtle deficits may not be easily apparent and may impact on treatment outcome.
- Subjects
COGNITION; PSYCHOLOGY; EMOTIONS &; cognition; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL tests; CEREBRAL cortex; MEMORY
- Publication
Alcohol & Alcoholism, 2005, Vol 40, Issue 6, p498
- ISSN
0735-0414
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/alcalc/agh203