An analysis of the brain weights of 168 alcoholics showed that the mean brain weight of male alcoholics was less (p less than 0.001) than that of a normal population. Two subgroups of alcoholics were identified. Firstly, those with nutritional brain damage (Wernicke's encephalopathy, caused by vitamin B1 deficiency) and, secondly, those with brains which appeared "normal" macroscopically and mi...