title: Pictorial misrepresentation of spatial relations of the face by certain chronic alcoholic men: an interpretation implicating spatial aspects of memory.
abstract: Specific deficit in the pictorial (and implied mental) representation of subtle spatial relations of the upper part of the pattern of the human face is demonstrated in 22% of 344 chronic alcoholic skid row men as against 12% of 406 controls, based on protocols for a novel Draw-A-Person-With-The-Face-In-Frontal-View Test. This drawing was previously shown to be sensitive to the detection of ability to represent visually subtle yet elementary spatial relations. A speculative interpretation of the present data and of mnemonic techniques described in the literature suggests that accurate mental representation of these spatial relations may be required particularly during the encoding phase of memory processes which appears to be especially inefficient for those with chronic alcoholism. Aside from the brain systems of the frontal and occipital-parietal lobes, the hippocampal mediation of elementary spatial relations particularly may be implicated.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D005145:Face; D005556:Form Perception; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011581:Psychological Tests; D013028:Space Perception