[Cognitive function in alcoholics in a double-blind study of piracetam]

The effects of piracetam on cognitive functions have been studied in alcoholic patients. The investigation was carried out on 27 alcoholics who were admitted to hospital with acute withdrawal syndrome. The trial was performed under double-blind condition. Thirteen patients were treated with piracetam and 14 with placebo. The performance of patients treated with piracetam (experimental group) was significantly better at the Block-Design retest, as compared with the control subjects. This was associated with comparatively good perceptual organization, visual motor coordination and abstract reasoning in these patients. Similar kind of performance of these patients has been achieved in the tests used to measure psychomotor speed and attention capacity. Our findings agree well with some observations of the clinicians and may stimulate further research in this field.