Continuities in the olfactory deficits of chronic alcoholics and alcoholics with the Korsakoff syndrome.

Olfactory dysfunction, a finding prevalent among alcoholic Korsakoff patients, was investigated in long-term alcoholics with Korsakoff's Syndrome. The results demonstrate that alcoholics are impaired on odor quality discrimination but performed normally on complex hue discriminations. These findings support the hypothesis that chronic alcoholics and alcoholic Korsakoff patients represent two points on a single continuum of cognitive deterioration associated with alcohol abuse.