Patients With Severe Alcohol-Related Cognitive Impairment Improve in Flexibility When Abstinence Is Maintained: A Comparative Study With Alzheimer’s Disease

Clergue‐Duval, Virgile; Barré, Thomas; Cognat, Emmanuel; Brichet, Anne-Laure; Géraud, Claire; Azuar, Julien; Michaud, Philippe; Lécallier, Dorothée; Arfaoui-Geffroy, Sonia; Hispard, Eric; Paquet, Claire; Bellivier, Frank; Questel, Frank; Vorspan, Florence

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.936639

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“… 123 Indeed, in a longitudinal study, people with alcohol-related dementia with monitored abstinence showed improved performance on executive functioning tests, whereas people with Alzheimer’s disease performed worse on memory tests over the same time spans. 124 The amount of alcohol consumed was unrelated to cognitive performance in patients with DSM-III –defined “primary degenerative dementia.” 125 In a more recent study of people diagnosed with MCI ( ICD-10 code F067) and evaluated by structured interview for alcohol use—i.e., low (less than 1 drink/week), moderate (1 to 14 drinks/week for men and 1 to 9 drinks/week for women), or heavy (more than 14 drinks/week for men and more than 9 drinks/week for women)—levels of alcohol consumed had no effect on MMSE scores; however, MMSE scores are notoriously insensitive to AUD-related cognitive decline. 126 , 127 …”

Section: Results Of the Reviewed Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol Use Disorder and Dementia: A Review

Zahr

2024

ARCR

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PURPOSE By 2040, 21.6% of Americans will be over age 65, and the population of those older than age 85 is estimated to reach 14.4 million. Although not causative, older age is a risk factor for dementia: every 5 years beyond age 65, the risk doubles; approximately one-third of those older than age 85 are diagnosed with dementia. As current alcohol consumption among older adults is significantly higher compared to previous generations, a pressing question is whether drinking alcohol increases the risk for Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. SEARCH METHODS Databases explored included PubMed, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect. To accomplish this narrative review on the effects of alcohol consumption on dementia risk, the literature covered included clinical diagnoses, epidemiology, neuropsychology, postmortem pathology, neuroimaging and other biomarkers, and translational studies. Searches conducted between January 12 and August 1, 2023, included the following terms and combinations: “aging,” “alcoholism,” “alcohol use disorder (AUD),” “brain,” “CNS,” “dementia,” “Wernicke,” “Korsakoff,” “Alzheimer,” “vascular,” “frontotemporal,” “Lewy body,” “clinical,” “diagnosis,” “epidemiology,” “pathology,” “autopsy,” “postmortem,” “histology,” “cognitive,” “motor,” “neuropsychological,” “magnetic resonance,” “imaging,” “PET,” “ligand,” “degeneration,” “atrophy,” “translational,” “rodent,” “rat,” “mouse,” “model,” “amyloid,” “neurofibrillary tangles,” “α-synuclein,” or “presenilin.” When relevant, “species” (i.e., “humans” or “other animals”) was selected as an additional filter. Review articles were avoided when possible. SEARCH RESULTS The two terms “alcoholism” and “aging” retrieved about 1,350 papers; adding phrases—for example, “postmortem” or “magnetic resonance”—limited the number to fewer than 100 papers. Using the traditional term, “alcoholism” with “dementia” resulted in 876 citations, but using the currently accepted term “alcohol use disorder (AUD)” with “dementia” produced only 87 papers. Similarly, whereas the terms “Alzheimer’s” and “alcoholism” yielded 318 results, “Alzheimer’s” and “alcohol use disorder (AUD)” returned only 40 citations. As pertinent postmortem pathology papers were published in the 1950s and recent animal models of Alzheimer’s disease were created in the early 2000s, articles referenced span the years 1957 to 2024. In total, more than 5,000 articles were considered; about 400 are herein referenced. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Chronic alcohol misuse accelerates brain aging and contributes to cognitive impairments, including those in the mnemonic domain. The consensus among studies from multiple disciplines, however, is that alcohol misuse can increase the risk for dementia, but not necessarily Alzheimer’s disease. Key issues to consider include the reversibility of brain damage following abstinence from chronic alcohol misuse compared to the degenerative and progressive course of ...

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Section: Results Of the Reviewed Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol Use Disorder and Dementia: A Review

Zahr

2024

ARCR

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“…While some authors claim full recovery of cognitive functioning in AUD within a year of sobriety, see for example [57], others argue that cognitive impairments can persist well beyond a year of alcohol abstinence. In particular, EF may take longer to recover, with improvements reported up to six years of abstinence [11,12,58]. Second, the current study used a cross-sectional design to identify EF performances in KS, ARCI and controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Impaired Executive Functioning Associated with Alcohol-Related Neurocognitive Disorder including Korsakoff’s Syndrome

Janssen,

Egger,

Kessels

2023

JCM

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(1) Background: chronic alcohol use is consistently associated with impaired executive functioning, but its profile across the spectrum from mild to major alcohol-related cognitive impairment is, to date, unclear. This study aims to compare executive performances of patients with alcohol-induced neurocognitive disorder, including Korsakoff’s syndrome (KS), by using a computerized assessment battery allowing a fine-grained and precise neuropsychological assessment; (2) Methods: performances of 22 patients with alcohol-related cognitive impairment (ARCI) and 20 patients with KS were compared to those of 22 matched non-alcoholic controls. All participants were diagnosed in accordance with DSM-5-TR criteria and were at least six weeks abstinent from alcohol prior to assessment. Executive function was evaluated using four subtests of Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB®); (3) Results: significant differences between groups were found on spatial working memory (updating), sustained attention and inhibitory control, set shifting, and planning. Healthy controls performed significantly better than both patient groups (Games-Howell post hoc; p < 0.05), but no differences in performance were found between the ARCI and KS group; (4) Conclusions: ARCI and KS patients showed significant executive impairments, most prominent in updating, set-shifting and general planning abilities. Findings suggest equivalent levels of executive function in ARCI and KS patients. Our results highlight executive function as a significant hallmark of alcohol-induced neurocognitive disorder and stipulate the importance of early assessment and evaluation of skills to guide treatment.

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