Citation

Min EJ, Kim SG, Lee JS, Seo B, Jung WY, Huh SY, Park JH, Hong CH, Yu HJ. Clin. Psychopharmacol. Neurosci. 2019; 17(4): 503-508.

Affiliation

Department of Social Welfare & Counseling, Catholic University of Pusan, Busan, Korea.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology)

DOI

10.9758/cpn.2019.17.4.503

PMID

31671487

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol-induced blackout (blackout) is a typical early symptom of cognitive impairment caused by drinking. However, the first onset age of blackout or the duration after onset of blackout has not been directly compared in previous studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in cognitive function to the first start age of blackouts and their duration.

METHODS: Thirty-one male subjects were included in this study. Their age at the first blackout and the duration after the onset of blackout were investigated. Neuropsychological tests were conducted to determine their attention, memory, and executive function. Subjects were divided into three groups according to their age of the first onset blackout (group O1, < 20 years; group O2, 21-39 years; and group O3, > 40 years). Subjects were also divided into three groups by duration after the onset of blackout (P1, < 10 years; P2, 10-29 years; and P3, > 30 years). We then examined differences in neurocognitive function among these groups.

RESULTS: O1 tended to have a lower memory score than O2 (F = 3.28, p = 0.053). Significant differences were observed in attention and executive function between groups P1 and P3 (Digit Span_backward: F = 6.07, p < 0.05; visual span_forward: F = 4.19, p < 0.05; executive intelligence quotient: F = 3.55, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Greater memory impairment was detected in subjects having an earlier age of the first blackout. The longer the duration after the onset of blackout, the more impaired their attention and executive function skills.

Language: en

Keywords

Addiction medicine.; Alcohol-induced blackout; Alcohol-induced disorder; Cognition; Retrograde amnesia