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Delayed matching to sample and concurrent learning in nonamnesic humans with alcohol dependence
S C Bowden1, R Benedikt, A J Ritter
1Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Neuropsychologia
|May 1, 1992
Summary
Alcohol-dependent individuals without Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome show memory impairments on specific animal tests. These cognitive deficits resemble those seen in severe Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, suggesting early-stage neurological impact.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Addiction Research
Background:
- Alcohol dependence is a significant public health issue.
- Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a severe neurological complication of chronic alcoholism.
- Subtle cognitive deficits may precede clinical diagnosis of WKS.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate memory performance in alcohol-dependent individuals without clinical WKS.
- To compare their performance on animal memory tasks with non-alcohol-dependent controls.
- To determine if cognitive impairments in non-clinically amnesic alcoholics resemble those in WKS.
Main Methods:
- Utilized two animal memory tests: delayed matching to sample and concurrent discrimination learning.
- Compared performance of a small sample of alcohol-dependent subjects (no clinical WKS signs) with non-alcohol-dependent controls.
- Assessed behavioral performance on the selected tasks.
Main Results:
- Alcohol-dependent subjects demonstrated significant impairment on the delayed matching to sample task compared to controls.
- Performance differences on the concurrent discrimination learning task did not reach statistical significance.
- Results suggest a specific type of behavioral impairment in alcohol-dependent individuals.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive impairment, particularly in tasks like delayed matching to sample, may exist in alcohol-dependent individuals prior to overt Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.
- The observed deficits are comparable to those seen in established WKS.
- These findings highlight the potential for early neurological consequences of alcohol dependence.