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Abstract

In this study, independent and interactive effects of alcohol drinking and smoking on the function of frontal lobe in middle-and elderly-Japanese community dwellers were examined. The participants were 487 health individuals aged 40 to 86 years old. The letter fluency test to measures verbal executive function, and the D-CAT to measures information processing speed and sustain of attention were used as the measures of cognitive function. Analyses including age and years of education as covariates indicated that the intensity of drinking tended to influence on information processing speed, that is, light to moderate drinkers showed good performance in comparison with abstainers or heavy drinkers. The intensity of smoking also made a significant difference on the results of the letter fluency test, and light smokers showed a higher-level performance compared with other groups.