This week exposes yet another danger posed by alcohol, PTSD challenges, and the diversity of mood disorders.
Alcohol Use Tied to Memory Errors
A new study in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry explores how alcohol use might pose a singular threat to individuals with neurocognitive disorders, such as dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Researchers from the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance analyzed data from 153 memory clinic patients – 51 of whom struggled with alcohol-related cognitive impairment (ARCI) and 102 without a history of problematic drinking.
The researchers found no significant differences in overall cognitive performance or major cognitive domains between the two groups. However, individuals in the ARCI group showed a higher rate of “intrusions” during a delayed recall memory task – remembering words that weren’t actually presented.
This slight – yet consistent – finding suggests a specific impairment in cognitive control, particularly response inhibition and memory accuracy. The study’s authors suggest a possible connection to alcohol-induced damage in the brain’s prefrontal regions.
These intrusion patterns could serve as an early behavioral marker of alcohol-related cognitive deficits, even in the absence of classic syndromes like Wernicke-Korsakoff. The findings also reinforce just how challenging it can be to distinguish ARCI from other forms of dementia, since symptoms overlap so much.
The authors conclude with a call for larger studies that make use of brain imaging and biomarkers to better understand ARCI. Such research could help guide clinical diagnosis.
They also urge policymakers to consider cognitive effects – in addition to the well-established cancer and cardiovascular risks – when looking at public health guidelines on alcohol consumption.
IN OTHER PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROLOGY NEWS
- The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders reports that hospital patients with PTSD are much more likely to have at least one other psychiatric condition. They’re also prone to develop physical health problems.
- Black, White, and Hispanic women with mood disorders differ dramatically in their use and preference of treatments.
- A PCC case study details a 14-year-old boy’s rare unilateral abdominal seizures, which stemmed from neurocysticercosis and resolved after targeted treatment.
- In a phase 2 trial, documented in JCP, the novel NMDA NR2B antagonist onfasprodil showed rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression.
- Finally, Psychiatrist.com reports on the latest national suicide numbers – and some hope on the horizon.
