Abstract
There is little doubt about the neurotoxic effects of alcohol on the human nervous system, and multiple (though sometimes mild) neuropsychological deficits have been documented in long-term, chronic alcohol abusers. The purpose of this chapter is to acquaint the reader with the variety of deficits common to long-term alcohol abusers and the assessment measures that may best be utilized to tease out sometimes subtle deficits. We will not review in detail the interesting but differing views on various models that have been purported to explain the nature of these deficits (e.g., the “premature aging” hypothesis, the “right hemisphere” hypothesis), but the interested reader is referred to Brandt and Butters (1986), Loberg (1986), and Parsons and Farr (1981) for a more comprehensive discussion of these models.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Albert, M.S., Butters, N., & Levin, J. (1979). Temporal gradients in the retrograde amnesia of patients with alcoholic Korsakoff’s disease. Archives of Neurology, 36, 211–216.
Arendt, T., Bigl, V., Arendt, A., & Tennstedt, A. (1983). Loss of neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert in Alzheimer’s Disease, paralysis agitans and Korsakoffs Disease. Acta Neuropatholigica, 61, 101–108.
Brandt, J., & Butters, N. (1986). The alcoholic Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and its relationship to long-term alcohol abuse. In I. Grant & K. Adams (Eds.), Neuropsychological assessment of neuropsychiatric disorders (pp. 441–477). New York: Oxford University Press.
Butters, N. (1981). Amnestic disorders. In K. Heilman & E. Valenstein (Eds.), Clinical neuropsychology (pp. 439–474). New York: Oxford University Press.
Butters, N. (1985). Alcoholic Korsakoff’s syndrome: Some unresolved issues concerning etiology, neuropathology, and cognitive deficits. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 7, 181–210.
Butters, N., Cermak, L.S., Montgomery, K., & Adenolfi, A. (1977). Some comparisons of the memory and visuoperceptive deficits of chronic alcoholics and patients with Korsakoffs disease. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 1, 73–76.
Cohen, N.J., & Squire, L.R. (1981). Retrograde amnesia and remote memory impairment. Neuropsychologia, 19, 337–356.
Cutting, J. (1979). Differential impairment of memory in Korsakoffs syndrome. Cortex, 15, 501–516.
Fitzhugh, L., Fitzhugh, K., & Reitan, R. (1965). Adaptive abilities and intellectual functioning of hospitalized alcoholics: Further considerations. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 26, 402–411.
Goldman, M.S. (1983). Cognitive impairment in chronic alcoholics: Some cause for optimism. American Psychologist, 38, 1045–1054.
Goldstein, G. (1976). Perceptual and cognitive deficits in alcoholics. In G. Goldstein, & C. Neuringer (Eds.), Empirical studies of alcoholism (pp. 115–151). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
Jones, B., & Parsons, O. (1971). Impaired abstracting ability in chronic alcoholics. Archives of General Psychiatry, 24, 71–75.
Jones, B., & Parsons, O.A. (1972). Specific vs. generalized deficits of abstracting ability in chronic alcoholics. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 380–384.
Lezak, M. (1983). Neuropsychological assessment (2nd ed.) New York: Oxford University Press.
Lishman, W.A. (1981). Cerebral disorder in alcoholism: Syndromes of impairment. Brain, 104, 1–20.
Loberg, T. (1986). Neuropsychological findings in the early and middle phases of alcoholism. In I. Grant & K. Adams (Eds.), Neuropsychological assessment of neuropsychiatry disorders (pp. 415–440). New York: Oxford University Press.
Nelson, L.D., Satz, P., & Mitrushina, M.N. (1988). Validation of a test to measure personality and affective change in a brain-injured population: Preliminary results. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 10, 59 (abstract).
Oscar-Berman, M. (1973). Hypothesis testing and focusing behavior during concept formation by amnestic Korsakoff patients. Neuropsychologia, 11, 191–198.
Parsons, O.A., & Farr, S.D. (1981) The neuropsychology of alcohol and drug use. In S.B. Filskov & T.J. Boll (Eds.), Handbook of clinical neuropsychology (pp. 320–365). New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Parsons, O.A., & Leber, W.R. (1981). The relationship between cognitive dysfunction and brain damage in alcoholics: Causal, interactive or epiphenomenal? Alcoholism: Clinical Experimental Research, 5, 326–343.
Parsons, O.A., Tarter, R.E., & Edelberg, R. (1972). Altered motor control in chronic alcoholics. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 72, 308–314.
Ryan, C., & Butters, N. (1980). Further evidence for a continuum-of-impairment encompassing male alcoholic Korsakoff patients and chronic alcoholic men. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 4, 190–197.
Ryan, C., Butters, N., Montgomery, K., Adinolfi, AI., & Didario, B. (1980). Memory deficits in chronic alcoholics: Continuities between the “intact” alcoholic and the alcoholic Korsakoff patient. In H. Begleiter (Ed.), Biological effects of alcohol (pp. 701–717). New York: Plenum Press.
Seltzer, B., & Benson, D.F. (1974). The temporal pattern of retrograde amnesia in Korsakoff s disease. Neurology, 24, 527–530.
Tarter, R.E. (1973). An analysis of cognitive deficits in chronic alcoholics. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 157, 138–147.
Tarter, R.E. (1975). Brain damage associated with chronic alcoholics. Disorders of the Nervous System, 36, 185–187.
Tarter, R.E. (1976). Neuropsychological investigations of alcoholism. In G. Goldstein & C. Neuringer (Eds.), Empirical studies of alcoholism (pp. 231–256). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company.
Teicher, M., & Singer, E. (1946). A report on the use of the Wechsler-Bellevue scales in an overseas general population. American Journal of Psychiatry, 103, 91–93.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Orsini, D.L., van Gorp, W.G., Boone, K.B. (1988). Long-Term Alcohol Abuse. In: The Neuropsychology Casebook. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3836-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3836-2_6
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8371-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3836-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive