Assessing Cognitive Impairment

A plethora of tools and methods are being used to evaluate alcohol’s effects on cognitive functioning. Neuropsychological tests focus on identifying the brain regions affected by alcohol, whereas neurocognitive approaches attempt to distinguish impaired cognitive processes. These approaches are supplemented by neurophysiological and neuroimaging tools. Studies using all these instruments have characterized alcohol’s effects on cognitive functioning after both acute and chronic alcohol consumption. However, there are limitations to the generalizability of these findings because the subjects in the vast majority of studies do not adequately represent all subgroups of the general population.