As noted previously, neuroradiological evidence has revealed a widening of the fissures and sulci of the cerebral cortex and enlargement of the ventricles in brains of alcoholics. These changes suggest cortical atrophy associated with alcoholism (Pfefferbaum and Rosenbloom 1993; Pfefferbaum et al. 1995). The evidence for cortical atrophy has come both from imaging studies of detoxified alcoholics and from post mortem analyses of the brains of alcoholics. For example, MRI findings show evidence of significant cortical and subcortical tissue and volume loss in non-KS alcoholics compared with nonalcoholic control subjects. Moreover, alcoholics with KS have greater cortical atrophy than non-KS alcoholics. Researchers also have reported neuropsychological deficits in alcoholics (e.g., through tests of problem-solving, spatial memory, visual associations, and learning related to or caused by touch [i.e., tactual learning]) that indicate alcoholism-related cortical atrophy (Evert and Oscar-Berman 1995).
