Aim of the study:
The aim of the current study is to test cognitive control models for explaining cognitive dysfunctions in patients with AUD.

Subject or material and methods:
53 participants with AUD undergoing detoxification inpatient treatment were assessed using Brief Assessment of Cognition in Affective disorder battery (BAC-A), Continuous Performance Test – Identical Pair (CPT-IP), and the Stroop test.

Results:
A model of patients’ cognitive control dysfunction is developed using principal component analysis. It includes response inhibition and working memory components and explains 87.3% of cognitive control variance. The comparison between “low” and “high” cognitive control groups yielded significant differences in verbal and working memory (p<0.001), processing speed (p=0.006), and emotional processing (p<0.01) tasks. When compared to the normative data, the «low» cognitive control group exhibited deficits in working memory, motor skills, processing speed, planning and decision making, and emotional processing (all at the p<0.001 level). No other significant differences were observed.

Discussion:
The cognitive control model, which includes working memory and response inhibition, might be more accurate in explaining cognitive deficits in AUD. The clinically and demographically equal groups differed in cognitive control abilities, motor skills, processing speed and emotional interference control.

Conclusions:
This is one the first studies examining cognitive control in Russian patients with AUD. The findings suggest the diversity of premorbid cognitive functioning or differences in vulnerability to neurotoxic effects of alcohol intake among patients with AUD with varying levels of cognitive control.