Cognitive impairments in alcohol-dependent subjects.

Florent Bernardin,Franã§Ois Paille,Anne Maheut-Bosser

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00078

Florent Bernardin, Franã§Ois Paille + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00078

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Journal: Frontiers in psychiatry	Publication Date: Jul 16, 2014
Citations: 184	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Université de Lorraine

Abstract

Chronic excessive alcohol consumption induces cognitive impairments mainly affecting executive functions, episodic memory, and visuospatial capacities related to multiple brain lesions. These cognitive impairments not only determine everyday management of these patients, but also impact on the efficacy of management and may compromise the abstinence prognosis. Maintenance of lasting abstinence is associated with cognitive recovery in these patients, but some impairments may persist and interfere with the good conduct and the efficacy of management. It therefore appears essential to clearly define neuropsychological management designed to identify and evaluate the type and severity of alcohol-related cognitive impairments. It is also essential to develop cognitive remediation therapy so that the patient can fully benefit from the management proposed in addiction medicine units.

Highlights

Alcoholism causes a multitude of social and health problems with negative impact on quality of life and secondary costs to society [1,2,3]
Dysregulation of the dopaminergic system caused by chronic alcohol consumption produces drug dependence reinforcement and is most likely involved in the development of drug addiction [16,17,18]
cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been demonstrated to be effective in the management of alcohol-dependence [70], but it is somewhat paradoxical to propose management that directly involves cerebral structures and cognitive functions altered by chronic alcohol consumption

Summary

Introduction

Alcoholism causes a multitude of social and health problems with negative impact on quality of life and secondary costs to society [1,2,3]. The characteristic profile of alteration of episodic memory in alcohol-dependent patients comprises limited learning capacities, impairments of encoding, and recollection processes, difficulties recalling the temporospatial context and deficits of autonoetic consciousness, while information storage is preserved [25, 30]. ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND IMPLICIT COGNITIVE PROCESSES The study of the implicit mechanisms involved in addictive behavior has been considerably developed over recent years.

Results

Conclusion