[The "residual syndrome" in alcoholics after 5 years' abstinence]

Residual deficiency of brain performance in chronic alcoholics after a 5-year abstinency. Brain performance of a group of 43 chronic alcoholics abstinent since 5 years was tested. Some aspects of higher intellectual performance were found to be reduced as compared to a control population. The performance was also better than that of a group of chronic alcoholics abstinent for only one year. The residual deficiency of performance could be interpreted as a "functional psychosyndrome", resulting from chronic sensory deprivation on the base of the alcoholism.