Assessment of neuropsychological functions in chronic alcoholics using a standardized version of Luria's Neuropsychological Technique

The Standardized Version of Luria's Neuropsychological Technique was administered to separate groups of alcoholics 3 and 11 weeks abstinent from alcohol and to an equated control group. The alcoholics were impaired compared to controls on most of the battery scales; 3-week abstinent alcoholics performed poorer than 11-week abstinent alcoholics on most scales, however, only on the Rhythm scale was the difference significant. These results and other analyses suggest that chronic alcoholics suffer from a mild diffuse-generalized brain dysfunction which persists for up to at least 11 weeks of abstinence.