Psychological Deficit in Chronic Alcoholics: A Review

Abstract

Chronic alcoholics exhibit impaired performance on a variety of psychological measures. While no generalized intellectual deterioration is evident, specific deficits on spatial, cognitive, learning, and motor tasks are observed. The manifest pattern of deficits is amenable to a neuropsychological interpretation, of which the presently most comprehensive hypothesis asserts that alcoholics suffer from a neurological disorder that is primarily localized to the anterior-basal region of the brain.