International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | November 2016 | Vol 4 | Issue 11 Page 4812 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Kaur V et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2016 Nov;4(11):4812-4815 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article A comparative study of information processing time in chronic alcoholic and non-alcoholic men Vishavdeep Kaur*, Lily Walia, Simran Grewal, Sangeeta Nagpal INTRODUCTION Impairment in information processing after alcohol administration has been demonstrated in past research studies. Results of these studies showed that increased alcohol concentration causes impairment in different stages of information processing. While performing any action after a stimulus the event includes reaction time (RT), vigilance and cognition. 1 But these studies were done after acute alcohol intoxication and a very few studies have reported the effect of chronic alcohol intake on information processing time. The purpose of this paper is to try to fulfill the gap and to assess what chronic alcoholism does to total information processing. The information processing for a stimulus includes Input in form of sight, feel, smell or taste which is sensed by respective sense organ and selectively transforms the relevant information in the cerebral cortex. After central processing, a decision is made and a motor program is initiated. According to the commands from the centre, movement is produced as muscle contraction and resultant action is performed which may result in success or failure. 2 The early stages of information processing are described by detection of the stimuli and response to that stimulus, whereas total information processing time is given by reaction time which involves total decision making time and response oriented measures. Reaction time is the time interval between the stimulus onset and response. This all is done under condition that the subject responds as rapidly as possible when the stimulus is provided. The result thus provides information about the integrity and processing ability of the central nervous system. 3 The ABSTRACT Background: An impairment in information processing time in chronic alcoholics compared to non-alcoholic men. Information processing time was assessed by using reaction time as a tool. Reaction time involves the central processing to a sensory input and output as execution of movement which may be a success or failure. Methods: Chronic alcoholics were diagnosed on the basis of AUDIT, extensive history and complete examination. Reaction time a tool for assessing information processing time was measured using digital display response time apparatus with a visual stimulus. Results: Visual reaction time for all three colours was increased in chronic alcoholics compared to the non-alcoholic men. Conclusions: This study concludes that with chronic consumption of alcohol there is slow processing of information as well as decrease in efficiency of sensorimotor functioning which is shown by an increased reaction time for visual stimuli. Keywords: Chronic alcoholics, Information processing time, Sensorimotor functions Department of Physiology, Maharishi Markandeshwar Medical College and Hospital, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India Received: 24 August 2016 Revised: 30 September 2016 Accepted: 01 October 2016 *Correspondence: Dr. Vishavdeep Kaur, E-mail: drvishavdeepurv@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20163771