<p>Cognitive Impairments in Early-Detoxified Alcohol-Dependent Inpatients and Their Associations with Socio-Demographic, Clinical and Psychological Factors: An Exploratory Study</p>

Abstract

Cognitive impairment is common among patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, neuropsychological assessment is not usually included as routine practice in alcohol rehabilitation programs. The aim of this study was to describe qualitatively the cognitive deficits in early-detoxified AUD patients undergoing rehabilitation and to explore relevant associations with socio-demographic, clinical and psychological factors. Patients and Methods: Forty-one patients with a diagnosis of AUD were consecutively recruited from a residential rehabilitation hospital in Northern Italy. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Brief Neuropsychological Examination 2 (ENB-2). Anxiety, depression and severity of alcohol dependence were also evaluated using validated self-report questionnaires. Alcohol relapse was investigated 1 month after discharge. Results: Overall, 31.7% of AUD patients showed cognitive impairments according to the global score scale. However, 70.7% had an impaired performance on at least one test of the ENB-2, with particular regard to executive function, visuospatial and memory domains. Age, education and abstinence at admission were the most relevant factors associated with cognitive deficits in this clinical population. Conclusion: The detection of cognitive impairments is essential in order to adapt alcohol rehabilitation treatment to patients with cognitive deficits and enhance clinical outcomes.

Mental Imagery Skills in Alcohol-Dependent Subjects and Their Associations With Cognitive Performance: An Exploratory Study During Residential Rehabilitation

“…The cognitive impairments affected predominantly visuospatial abilities, executive functions and memory. Our results are in line with several studies that have demonstrated impaired performance on visuospatial processing, executive functions and episodic memory in AUD subjects ( 6 , 10 , 45 ). The 80.5% of the total sample showed impaired performance on at least one subscale of the neuropsychological battery.…”

“…Although the maintenance of sobriety is associated with cognitive recovery, some deficits may persist and interfere with the motivation process of patients to change their addictive behavior (4). The literature showed that after alcohol detoxification, 50-80% of the recently abstinent subjects present neuropsychological impairments (5)(6)(7). Alcohol-related brain damage is characterized by a brain volume deficit, a dilatation of the ventricles and an increased cerebrospinal fluid quantity, involving several brain regions: cerebellum, corpus callosum, hippocampus, thalamus, amygdala, and frontal cortices (8).…”

Long‐term consequences of alcohol use in early adolescent mice: Focus on neuroadaptations in GR, CRF and BDNF

“…17,18 Interestingly, although the relationships between HPA axis activity, craving and behavioural performance during early abstinence have been documented, little is known on such a relationship during protracted abstinence. [19][20][21][22] The early abstinence period is associated with a decrease in plasmatic GCs concentration, as opposed to a brain regional GCs increase, particularly in the PFC, likely involving genomic effects of GCs. 23 Hence, it seems that the transition from positive to negative reinforcement in alcohol dependence is driven by a dysregulated HPA axis function, in which the role of GRs and GCs remains to be investigated.…”

Long-term consequences of alcohol use in early adolescent mice: focus on neuroadaptations in GR, CRF and BDNF

“…Clinical and experimental studies in both humans and rodents have shown that both acute and chronic alcohol consumption, as well as alcohol withdrawal, enhanced plasma glucocorticoids (GCs) and decreased GCs receptors’ (GR) availability [17, 18]. Interestingly, although the relationships between HPA axis activity, craving, and behavioural performance during early abstinence have been documented, little is known on such a relationship during protracted abstinence [19, 20, 21, 22]. The early abstinence period is associated with a decrease in plasmatic GCs concentration, as opposed to a brain regional GCs increase, particularly in the PFC, likely involving genomic effects of GCs [23].…”