An unanticipated finding from our study was the better performance of TNAD, compared to NAC, in the Attention domain. A possible explanation for this may involve compensatory attentional strategies in heavy drinking functional alcoholics. TNAD in our study were comparable to NAC on employment status, with school and/or employment adding up to full-time occupation. In order to maintain occupational standards while continuing to drink heavily, TNAD may recruit more attentional resources (e.g., be more focused, concentrate harder) than their non-alcoholic counterparts. If so, this could offer an additional partial explanation (along with relatively small cerebral consequences of alcohol dependence) for what appears to be normal cognitive performance in TNAD. In TNAD there may be subtle effects of chronic drinking on cognitive function that individuals are able to compensate for. More challenging tests, with competing demands, may be necessary to unmask such effects, if they exist.
