Alcohol consumption and cognition

There is evidence that alcohol consumption is increasing in recent decades, including both male and female older individuals. Excessive alcohol use can affect various functions, of which alcohol-related liver failure and cancer have mostly been the subject of research so far. However, it can also cause brain damage and cognitive impairment. At the same time, population aging also has an increased rate, which poses major challenges to the health care systems regarding age-related diseases such as cognitive impairment and dementia. In that work, we try to identify the role of alcohol in the clinical and demographic profile of individuals with mild cognitive impairment, investigate whether there are specific biomarkers for alcohol-related cognitive impairment in radiological imaging and performance on neuropsychological tests, and finally assess the diagnostic accuracy and clinical applicability of a specific screening instrument for delirium, which is a common condition among older individuals with cognitive impairment.

List of scientific papers

I. Tsevis T, Westman E, Poulakis K, Lindberg O, Badji A, Religa D, Wahlund LO. Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment Related to Grade of Alcohol Consumption. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2021 Nov 16;50(5):491–7.
https://doi.org/10.1159/000519736

II. Johansson YA, Tsevis T, Nasic S, Gillsjö C, Johansson L, Bogdanovic N, Kenne Sarenmalm E. Diagnostic accuracy and clinical applicability of the Swedish version of the 4AT assessment test for delirium detection, in a mixed patient population and setting. BMC Geriatr. 2021 Oct 18;21(1):568.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02493-3

III. Tsevis T, Marseglia A, Poulakis K, Ausén B, Ahlner F, Lindberg O, Lundberg C, Westman E, Religa D, Skoog I & Wahlund LO. Relationship between grade of alcohol consumption and neuropsychological performance (neuropsychological markers) in healthy older adults, and patients with mild cognitive impairment). [Manuscript]

IV. Tsevis T, Lindberg O, Marseglia A, Ausén B, Ahlner F, Lundberg C, Westman E, Religa D, Skoog I & Wahlund LO. Differences in correlation between performance on episodic memory and cortical thickness in alcohol high-consuming vs low-consuming individuals in normal aging and MCI. [Manuscript]

V. Lindberg O, Ahlner F, Tsevis T, Pereira JB, Westman E, Skoog I & Wahlund LO. Effects of current alcohol use on brain volume among older adults in the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort study 2014-16. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2023 Sep 19.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-023-01691-x