impairments on tasks, involving executive functioning (74, 75), working memory (76, 77), and impulsivity (76, 78–81). Structural abnormalities have been directly linked to frontal cortical function in within-subject experimental designs. One study measuring frontal cortical electrical activity (electroencephalogram recordings) during a Go/No Go task, a test where subjects are asked to learn and perseverate changing rules pertaining to cues, demonstrated blunted activity during the task in alcoholics as compared with non-dependent controls (82). Most recently, Nakamura-Palacios et al. (83) reported that the damage to the PFC was predictive of the cognitive impairments on tests of executive function. Additionally, studies have identified abnormal patterns of activity during cognitive tasks in alcohol-dependent subjects, whose intellectual performance is comparable to non-dependent subjects (84); this finding is particularly intriguing as it implies that individuals with significant disruptions in cognitive capacities may lack the capacity to form adaptive connections in the presence of chronic alcohol. Taken together, these findings present solid evidence that the PFC is subject to extensive damage as a result of chronic alcohol use, some of which could potentially be mediated by certain individual characteristics.
