NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING IN DETOXIFIED ALCOHOLICS BETWEEN 18 AND 35 YEARS OF AGE

Objective: The authors determined 1) cognitive functioning in detoxifi ed alcoholics who had alcohol-related problems for a relatively brief time and 2) relationships between neuropsychological test scores and r ecent and chronic alcohol consumption patterns, childhood symptoms of hyperactivity/minimal brain dysfunction, and extent of familial alcoho lism. Method: The subjects were 101 detoxified, drug-free alcoholics b etween 18 and 35 years of age who had consumed excessive amounts of al cohol (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 wa s given an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests assessing lan guage skills, attention, motor skills, intelligence, memory, and cogni tive functioning related to the frontal regions of the brain. Results: Only four individuals evidenced mild cognitive dysfunction. Current p sychiatric condition, anxiety and depressive states, and liver dysfunc tion were not related to cognition. Relationships of cognition to life time estimates of alcohol consumption (average of 189 kg) and number o f days from last drink to testing were determined to be nonlinear and suggested that greater lifetime consumption predicted worse performanc e and that longer abstinence predicted better performance. Neither ext ent 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 funct ioning. Conclusions: Cognition an young alcoholics, averaging 6 years of excessive alcohol consumption, was within normal limits, evert thou gh greater lifetime consumption predicted lower test scores and longer abstinence predicted higher scores.