Natural history of alcohol and drug-related brain disorder: Implications for neuropsychological research

Abstract
Clinical investigations are conducted within limits imposed by the natural history of the phenomena under study. A model for the natural history of alcohol and drug-related brain disorder is presented along with the theoretical arguments and research data which support such a model. The model is then discussed in terms of how it might affect the design and implementation of future studies of the neuropsychological consequences of substance abuse.