Select executive function component processes showed less impairment as a function of abstinence duration (cross-sectional studies) and demonstrate recovery (longitudinal studies) in alcoholics with several years of sobriety (Fein et al., 2006; Rourke and Grant, 1999) or even only a few months after drinking cessation (Loeber et al., 2010; Pitel et al., 2009). Specifically, inhibition, cognitive abstraction/flexibility, updating processes (Fein et al., 2006; Loeber et al., 2010; O’Leary et al., 1977; Pitel et al., 2009), attention (Fein et al., 2006; Loeber et al., 2010; O’Leary et al., 1977; Sullivan et al., 2000a), and short-term/working memory (Fein et al., 2006; Rosenbloom et al., 2004) show less impairment in long-term abstinent alcoholics compared with short-term abstinent alcoholics and exhibit recovery over time. Other studies, however, reported persistent executive impairment in AUD patients after long-term periods of abstinence from months to years (Munro et al., 2000; Nowakowska-Domagala et al., 2017; Yohman et al., 1985). Decision-making deficits may also endure in long-term abstinent alcoholics (Ando et al., 2012; Fein et al., 2004); these deficits have been hypothesized to play a significant role in relapse.
