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Family history of alcoholism and cognitive recovery in subacute withdrawal
Author(s) -
MORIYAMA YASUSHI,
MURAMATSU TARO,
KATO MOTOICHIRO,
MIMURA MASARU,
KASHIMA HARUO
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2006.01464.x
Subject(s) - abstinence , family history , psychology , cognition , neuropsychology , neuropsychological test , sobriety , psychiatry , alcohol dependence , rehabilitation , clinical psychology , medicine , alcohol , biochemistry , chemistry , neuroscience
A family history of alcoholism has been demonstrated to be an important factor affecting cognitive function. However, no studies have yet been conducted to compare cognitive recovery of family history‐positive (FH+) and family history‐negative (FH–) alcoholics in the subacute withdrawal period. To tackle this problem, a neuropsychological test battery consisting of six computerized tests was administered to 19 FH+ and 20 FH– alcoholics at 2 and 7 weeks after abstinence. At 2 weeks after abstinence, overall performance of both FH+ and FH– groups was significantly poorer than that of healthy controls. At 7 weeks, these performances tended to recover, but in Trail Making A and Figure Position, performances of FH+ alcoholics remained worse than those of controls, while those of FH– alcoholics did not. Thus cognitive recovery during the subacute withdrawal period was worse among FH+ alcoholics than FH– alcoholics, and this finding should be considered when planning alcohol rehabilitation programs.