Introduction to the special section on alcohol: Review of cognitive, emotional, and neural deficits and recovery with sustained abstinence and treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and neural dysfunction have been associated with misuse of alcohol for centuries. METHOD: Multidisciplinary research efforts have shed much light on the profile of impaired and spared functions associated with excessive heavy drinking, with heterogeneity noted among alcoholic individuals. RESULTS: Myriad factors may moderate or mediate the untoward effects of misuse of alcohol and an individual's likelihood of initiation and maintenance of abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: In this special section, a number of leading experts in the field of alcohol and alcoholism provide systematic and critical reviews of published research pertaining to specific topics of interest spanning from brain-behavior relations to the latest theories on cognitive training and the bidirectional influences of social and emotional deficits and chronic pain to the initiation and maintenance of alcoholism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).