The relationship between alcohol consumption and deterioration in brain structure, and decline of function, is not simple. Measures such as average quantity consumed, or even total quantity consumed over a year, do not predict the ultimate extent of brain damage. Although changes in brain structure may be gradual, performance deficits appear abruptly . The individual often appears more capable than is actually the case, because existing verbal abilities are among the few faculties that are relatively unimpaired by chronic alcohol abuse.
Cerebral atrophy reverses after the first few months of sobriety.
Indications of structural pathology often disappear completely with long-term abstinence. Likewise, hyper-excitability of the central nervous system persists during the first several months of sobriety and then normalizes. Albeit, those who resume drinking, even at significantly reduced levels, fail to achieve the degree of structural or functional recovery as abstainers. Recovery of function follows a predictable sequence. In general, skills that require novel, complex, and rapid information processing take longest to recover.