This series of studies is concerned with cognitive function in detoxified male alcoholics. Recent and chronic alcohol consumption variables were found to interact with each other and with age and education in a nonlinear fashion in predicting neuropsychological performance. Increased consumption predicted decreased performance even on tests whose mean scores were in the normal range. Little or no improvement in performance was demonstrable with short-term abstinence (14-20 days), although long-term abstinence (7 months) was associated with improvement. Similarly, hepatic and hematologic characteristics of long-term abstainers improved, whereas these systems functioned abnormally in people who continued to consume alcoholic beverages, albeit at significantly reduced levels. Relationships between various prediction variables, including neuropsychological performance during treatment and subsequent outcome, are currently being analyzed. An initial finding was that an increased risk of relapse was associated withe excessive drinkers who were relatively early in their alcoholic careers as assessed by years of abusive drinking and accumulated lifetime exposure to alcohol.
