NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF CHRONIC ALCOHOLISM AND AGING

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Abstract
To test the hypothesis of premature aging in alcoholics a cross-sectional design was utilized with 3 groups of 20 men: young normal (mean age 31 yr), young alcoholics (mean age 33 yr) and elderly normal (mean age 71 yr). Eleven objective measures, selected from a battery of sensory and perceptual motor tests routinely used to evaluate cerebral dysfunction in hospitalized patients, were compared for the 3 groups. A general decline in neuropsychological functioning with aging, and a similar trend with alcoholism, was suggested. The tendency seen with alcoholism was least apparent with regard to fundamental sensory-motor functions and the perceptual functions of vision and audition and most apparent with regard to short term memory and abstract reasoning, i.e., higher mental processes. Chronic alcoholism may cause premature aging of neuropsychological functions and possibly the brain.