The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test: A follow-up study in alcoholics with and without neurological disease

The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) was used to detect abnormalities of memory and learning in 41 heavy drinkers (median daily consumption, 170g). Results were compared with those obtained in 13 age-matched control subjects (median daily alcohol consumption, 30g). Recall of the 15-word list of the RAVLT was significantly decreased in all 5 trials in the heavy drinkers. Those without clinical signs of alcohol-related neurological illness had significantly better scores than those with signs, but performed significantly worse than the control subjects. Patients with Korsakoff's psychosis obtained very low scores on the RAVLT. Those without Korsakoff's psychosis had significantly lower scores than the controls. The patients were re-tested after a mean interval of 10 months during which 23 were abstinent and 18 continued to drink. Scores obtained in the RAVLT did not change significantly in either group.

We conclude that memory and learning may be impaired in heavy drinkers before clinical signs of neurological disease are evident, and that there is a spectrum of memory loss, one extreme of which is Korsakoff's psychosis. Impaired learning and memory do not improve after abstinence for 10 months.