A Study of Intellectual Impairment and Recovery Rates in Heavy Drinkers in Ireland

Work in England (Kaldegg, 1956) and America (Wechsler, 1958; and Jones and Parsons, 1972) has suggested that heavy drinking, while in the later stages leading to all-round intellectual deterioration, in the early stages frequently causes deficits in visual/spatial and visual/motor co-ordination and visual memory. Kleinknecht and Goldstein (1972) suggest two general areas of deficit, inability in abstract reasoning and problem solving, and inability in tasks involving speed and perceptual/motor co-ordination. These functions are known to deteriorate with age and so deficits due to alcohol look like premature senescence of intellectual and psychological processes.