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Updated: May 26, 2026
Disruption of Frontal Lobe Neural Synchrony During Cognitive Control by Alcohol Intoxication
Published on: February 6, 2019
Neurocognitive parameters should be incorporated in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 assessment of
Serge J W Walvoort1, Arie J Wester, Jos I M Egger
1Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry, Venray, the Netherlands. swalvoort@vvgi.nl
Introduction And Aims:
Treatment planning for alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients is often preceded by the assessment of psychopathology and personality with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). However, during periods of abstinence, cognitive impairments (e.g. attention, memory and executive dysfunctions) related to neurological and somatic pathology may affect level and pattern of MMPI-2 scale scores, resulting in clinical misinterpretation.
Design And Methods:
A re-analysis of the data of the Egger et al. study is conducted in order to examine the clinical significance of the MMPI-2 profiles of 222 AUD patients (mean age 42.2 ± 9.6 years; 76.6% men) by using neurologically relevant item correction procedures. Hierarchical cluster analyses of neurologically relevant item-corrected solutions were compared to the original MMPI-2 profile.
Results:
Impulsiveness and psychopathic deviation were identified as a common denominator.
Discussion And Conclusions:
Uncorrected MMPI-2 assessment in AUD tends to overstress psychopathology and to overlook disinhibitory traits in early abstinence, caused by chronic alcoholism.
