In an attempt to clarify the deficits and intact abilities of individuals with obvious or suspected central nervous system (CNS) pathology, neuropsychologists have relied on a variety of assessment procedures. Test instruments are selected to engage both general and specific abilities that depend upon the integrity of the brain regions involved in those functions. In general, the primary neuropsychological domains assessed in alcoholics have been memory, executive functions (e.g., attention, abstraction, problem solving, organizing and planning, and inhibition), emotion and psychosocial skills, visuospatial cognition, and psychomotor abilities. Examples of specific assessment instruments are referred to in the sections below, and descriptions of the tests can be found in secondary sources (Strauss et al., 2006; Lezak et al., 2012). Importantly, because these tests tend to measure broad categories of abilities, there is no universally accepted consensus on specific attributes that define the functions they assess.
