A multivariate neuropsychological approach to brain lesion localization in alcoholism

The study involved a comparison of the neuropsychological test performance of chronic alcoholic patients with that of patients with localized and nonalcoholic diffuse brain damage. It was hypothesized that if the "right hemisphere" or "frontal lobe" theories of brain localization in alcoholism were correct, the profile obtained by the alcoholic patients would either resemble the profile obtained by the right hemisphere brain damaged patients more than the left hemisphere brain damaged patients. Or alternatively, it would resemble the profile obtained by the patients with frontal lobe brain damage more than the one obtained by the patients with posterior brain damage. In the case of the "right hemisphere" hypothesis, the role of sensory-motor as well as cognitive hemisphere asymmetries was evaluated. The results of the study did not provide strong support for either of the above mentioned hypotheses, but were supportive of the view that brain damage in chronic alcoholism is diffuse, and may reflect premature aging of the brain as a whole.