Cognitive deficits and morphological cerebral changes in a random sample of social drinkers.

A random sample of 200 men and 200 women taken from the general population as well as subsamples of 31 male and 17 female excessive social drinkers were investigated with neuropsychological tests and computed tomography of the brain. Relatively high alcohol intake per drinking occasion did not give evidence of cognitive deficits or morphological cerebral changes. However, in males, mild cognitive deficits and morphological cerebral changes as a result of high recent alcohol intake, particularly during the 24-hr period prior to the investigation, were observed. When excluding acute effects of recent alcohol intake, mild cognitive deficits but not morphological cerebral changes that are apparently due to long-term excessive social drinking were observed in males. In females there was no association between the drinking variables and cognitive deficits or morphological cerebral changes, probably due to their less advanced drinking habits. It is suggested that future risk evaluations and estimations of safe alcohol intake should take into consideration the potential risk for brain damage due to excessive social drinking. However, it is premature to make any definite statements about safe alcohol intake and the risk for brain damage in social drinkers from the general population.