Verbal working memory deficits in current and previous users of MDMA
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental May 5, 2004 DOI: 10.1002/hup.586
Summary
Current and former MDMA users demonstrated significant deficits in verbal working memory, with 63% of current users showing impaired reading span and both user groups struggling on computation span tasks. Even after accounting for cannabis and other drug use, the impairment on computation span persisted, highlighting MDMA's specific impact on cognitive functions. These findings suggest that MDMA may differentially affect components of executive processes, emphasizing the need to understand its influence on cognition within the broader context of psychology and drug studies.
Abstract
Abstract Previous research suggests that MDMA users are impaired in various aspects of cognitive functioning, however, it remains unclear whether they might experience deficits in established measures of verbal working memory functioning. In the present study current and previous MDMA users were compared with non‐users on verbal working memory measures including reading and computation span. Both user groups were found to be impaired on the computation span measure while current users also exhibited impairment in reading span. The MDMA‐related deficit on the computation span measure remained significant following the introduction of statistical controls for the potentially confounding effects of cannabis and other drugs. The results are discussed in the context of recent research on executive processes. It is suggested that MDMA may produce differential effects on specific components within a fractionated executive system. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.