The Influence of Alcohol Addiction on Cognitive Functions of the Representatives of Indigenous Population of Siberia

Abstract

As a model for studying the ethnic and cultural aspects of alcohol abuse problem the narcological situation in the Republic of Tyva (Russia) which is relevant for Siberian region. Clinical and psychological examination of 155 alcohol addicted registered in the Republican drug abuse clinic (Kyzyl) was carried out, with 91 people of them being Tuvinian nationality, and 64 people – Russians. In order to study the particularities of thinking and intellectual integrity of the alcohol abusers, the "Pictograms" technique was used. The content of the tested ones' memory was estimated using the "Learning 10 words" technique. The cognitive particularities of representatives of Tuvinian and Russian ethnos with alcohol addiction are described. The particularities of cognitive disorders of alcohol abusers have been determined that consist in reduced memory productivity, consistency of associative connections. The relation between graphic characteristics of drawings of the alcohol abusers which act as indicators of organic lesions of brain and the severity of clinical signs of alcoholic abuse is stated. In representatives of the Tuvinian ethnos, alcohol addiction damages the ability to speak in complex abstract terms and reduces the productivity of memorizing to a larger extent as compared to Russians, which confirms greater vulnerability of the indigenous ethnos to the effect of alcohol.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s5p337