The impact of long-term alcohol drinking heavily on the attention networks

Objective To explore the impact of alcohol to attention networks.Methods The attention network test was performed in 33 alcoholics and 27 normal controls on the efficiency of three anatomically defined attentional networks:alerting,orienting and executive control.Results The orienting network function was significantly lower(t =-3.72,P ＜0.01 ) in alcoholics (26.7 ± 38.6) ms than that in normal controls (51.8 ± 22.3 ) ms.The executive networks effects was higher and the alerting networks effects was lower in alcoholics than in normal controls,however without significant difference ( P ＞ 0.05 ).Conclusion The parietal lobe and cholinergic system may be more significantly affected by the alcohol. Key words: Attention networks test; Cognition ; Alcoholic