Visual and verbal learning deficits in Veterans with alcohol and substance use disorders

Highlights • Studied visual and verbal learning in Veterans with substance use disorders. • Compared alcohol abusers to abusers of cocaine and opiates. • Deficits in verbal learning were specific to Veterans with alcohol use disorders. • Visual learning was less impaired for both abusers of alcohol and other substances. • Alcohol treatment programs should not use strategies that rely on verbal learning.