When perception of emotional facial expression (EFE) is considered, alcoholics have shown normal reaction times when identifying non-emotional facial features, such as gender, but were slower to answer questions about the emotion of these same pictures, (Foisy et al., 2007a, Maurage et al., 2009a). The labels given to happy, sad, and fearful faces were more negative in alcoholics than nonalcoholic controls (NAC), though this effect may be related to co-morbid depression, which has been associated with intensity rating deficits (Oscar-Berman et al., 1990, Townshend and Duka, 2003, Maurage et al., 2009b). Some studies have not found EFE perception differences between alcoholics and controls (Cermak et al., 1989, Oscar-Berman et al., 1990, Uekermann et al., 2005), suggesting that effects may be specific to testing paradigms or study sample characteristics. In studies of Korsakoff’s syndrome, deficits in labeling anger, fear and surprise, and the memory for and intensity of these emotions (Oscar-Berman et al., 1990) have been found, and attributed to subcortical damage (Montagne et al., 2006). Alcoholics studied to date in EFE studies have been mostly recently detoxified (2–4 weeks) and/or in short to mid-term abstinence (average of about 2 months).
