Executive cognitive functioning in alcohol use disorders.

Abstract

Executive cognitive functioning (ECF) has been identified as an important determinant in the etiology of alcoholism. ECF represents a "higher-order" cognitive construct involved in the self-regulation of goal-directed behavior. The prefrontal cortex and its subcortical connections represent the primary neurological substrate that subserves ECF. Both alcoholics and individuals at high risk for alcoholism exhibit a mild dysfunction in ECF. However, this deficit appears to be significantly stronger in alcoholics with a comorbid diagnosis of an antisocial personality disorder. Individuals with other disorders that are also highly comorbid with alcoholism, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder, also demonstrate deficits in ECF. As such, compromised ECF may not be specific to alcoholism, but instead, might be a potential underlying etiologic substrate for a number of disorders of behavioral excess-disinhibition. Subsequent to reviewing the literature implicating ECF deficits in alcoholism and comorbid disorders, the authors present a heuristic cognitive-neurobehavioral model of alcoholism implicating the frontostriatal system. Finally, recommendations for the prevention and treatment of alcoholism, based on this model, are discussed.