Alcoholism and Brain Damage

Abstract

Numerous neuropsychological tests have been used to assess the effects of chronic alcohol use on the brain. Recently, the introduction of the Standardized Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery has presented a fresh way of evaluating disorders due to brain dysfunction. The present paper is an investigation of deficits in alcoholics on the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery. It was found that alcoholics differed from age—and education—matched controls on six of the fourteen scales of the test: Visual, Receptive Language, Arithmetic, Memory, Intelligence, and the Pathognomonic scale. An investigation of the individual items which differentiated alcoholics and controls found evidence that the effects of alcoholism are primarily seen in the more complex association areas of the brain, consistent with the conclusions reached by Gudeman and his associates. The implications and limitations of the present results were also discussed.