Neuropsychological Study on the Cognitive Disorders of Chronic Alcoholics

1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 07671086
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: KASHIMA Haruo Keio University, School of Medicine Associat Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (70101954)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YOSHINO Fumihiro Keio University, School of Medicine Clinical Instructor, 医学部, 助手 (00220707) ; OOE Yasuo Keio University, School of Medicine Senior Clinical Instructor, 医学部, 助手 (30185201)
• Project Period (FY): 1995 – 1996
• Keywords: alcoholism / memory disorder / problem solving ability / alcoholic dementia / Korsakoff syndrome / frontal dysfunction / neuropsychological assessment

Research Abstract

Cognitive performance of Japanese alcoholics (n=95) was compared with that of age-matched non-alcoholic controls (n=40) on eight tests of general congnitive ability, verbal and nonverbal memory, constructive ability, problem solving ability. Alcoholic subjects had been abstinent for 8-10 weeks at inpatients Alcohol Rehabilitation Programs and had no histories of severe head trauma, neurological disease or psychosis. Using one factor ANCOVA with age and education as the covariates, verbal and nonverbal memory impairment (retrieval deficits with interference) and deficit of problem solving ability were revealed in alcoholic subjects. Moreover, using the same method, effect of drinkin history on neuropsychologicai performance was investigated in alcoholic subjects. Long-term alcoholics had significant lower scores mainly in verbal and nonverbal memory tasks than short-term alcoholics. These results suggest that chronicity of alcoholism predicts the degree of memory disturbance.
"Alcoholic dementia" has long been a matter of controversy. We attempted to classify the types of the so-called "alcoholic dementia" based on the results of 11 neuropsychological tests. As alcoholic dementia in a broad sense, were selected 39 chronic alcoholics, who were abstinent for more than three months, and scored less than 23 points on Mini-Mental State Examination or showed clinical pictures of the deteriorated state. According to the pattern of test results could be identified 4 subtypes, i.e.Korsakoff syndrome type, severe Korsakoff syndrome type, frontal dysfunction type and whole cerebral dysfunction type. Of these 4 types severe Korsakoff syndrome type and whole dysfunction type are thought to correspond to "alcoholic dementia" in a narrow sense. All of these 4 types showed more or less the frontal dysfunction or amnesie de type axiale. This suggests that the cognitive disorders of chronic alcoholics including "alcohol dementia" in a narrow sense have close relations to the subcortical dementias.