Without treatment, dementia can lead to progressive overall mental deterioration.

Psychological tests demonstrate that consumption of less than 60 g/day, compared with zero consumption, affects memory, learning, reaction time, spatial perception, abstract thinking and complex reasoning.

Chronic alcohol abuse can affect:

• intellectual functioning: lack of judgement, significant memory problems, vague thinking, obsession and disorientation,
• emotional functioning, moral and social conscience: indifference towards responsibilities, degeneration which may lead to criminal acts.

In the most severe cases, memory and judgement problems are the result of vitamin B1 deficiency (Korsakoff's syndrome), or the direct toxic effects of alcohol on the nerve cells. The cerebral lesions implicated in these problems are reversible over time, if the patient remains abstinent, or reduces his alcohol consumption below 10 g/day.