Alcoholics and patients with frontal lobe system damage resulting from causes other than alcohol have been shown to exhibit impaired impulse control, lack of insight, and difficulty adapting to change. In addition, they perform poorly on tests of planning, organizing, problem-solving, and abstraction. Probably the most consistent finding in alcoholics that implicates deficits in frontal lobe functioning is abnormal perseverative responding (i.e., repetition of a previous behavior or response pattern despite feedback indicating that such responses are no longer correct or appropriate).
