title: Is there cognitive impairment in clinically 'healthy' abstinent alcohol dependence?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine neuropsychological performance in apparently cognitively, mentally, and physically healthy abstinent alcohol-dependent subjects compared with control subjects who were recruited for a number of different neuroimaging studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  All subjects completed a battery of neuropsychological tests as part of the neuroimaging protocol.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The group dependent on alcohol performed as well as controls on a non-verbal memory test and verbal fluency but performed worse in the verbal memory task, Trail A + B, and total IQ derived from Silverstein's short-form of the WAIS-R. However, the IQ performance of both groups was above average. In both groups, age was associated with slower performance on the Trail A + B task. In the alcohol-dependent group, severity of dependence and length of abstinence was not associated with performance of any task.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this apparently clinically healthy population of abstinent alcohol-dependent subjects, frontal lobe dysfunction was detectable using the Trail A + B and digit symbol tasks. This was despite above-average WAIS-R IQ scores. Consideration needs to be given to routine incorporation of cognitive testing in alcohol dependence since subtle deficits may not be easily apparent and may impact on treatment outcome.
authors.affiliation: Psychopharmacology Unit, University of Bristol, Dorothy Hodgkin Building, Whitson Street, Bristol, BS1 3NY, UK.
authors.forename: Simon J C
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Smita A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Pandit
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feeney
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Kerwin
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Nutt
authors.forename: E Jane
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boddington
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lingford-Hughes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000425:Alcohol Amnestic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009949:Orientation / Q000187:drug effects; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000187:drug effects; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D012016:Reference Values; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects; D013695:Temperance; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D014888:Wechsler Scales; D014936:Word Association Tests