Mammillary body and cerebellar volume loss are common in Korsakoff s syndrome but are more controversial in chronic alcoholics without frank amnesia or ataxia. This study related magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) derived ratings of tissue volume reduction in the mammillary bodies, cerebellar hemispheres, and cerebellar vermis to tests of verbal and nonverbal long-term declarative memory and ataxia. Ss were 33 chronic alcoholic men and 20 healthy male controls. The alcoholics showed tissue shrinkage in all 3 brain regions compared with controls and were impaired on tests of balance but not memory. Memory scores did not correlate with mammillary body or cerebellar ratings, but the correlation between balance scores and cerebellar vermis ratings approached significance. The presence of significant mammillary body shrinkage in 48% of the nonamnesic alcoholics suggests that this tissue volume reduction alone is not sufficient to produce an amnesic syndrome.

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