Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

C hronic use of ecstasy has been shown to impair a range of memory processes, including producing deficits in executive function (EF: controlling attention and multitasking) and prospective memory (PM: memory for future events). The current study extends our understanding of this area by exploring whether both EF and PM deficits co-exist in the same cohort of ecstasy users when compared with a non-user control group and, if so, what the relationship between these deficits might be. An existing-groups design was utilized, comparing ecstasy users with a non-user group as the independent factor. Scores on the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CAMPROMPT: an objective measure of time- and event- based PM) constituted the PM dependent measure and scores on the Reverse Digit Span task (RDS: an objective CE task) constituted the CE dependent measure. Age, mood, and other drug use (alcohol, smoking and cannabis) were also measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (mood) Scale and a drug use questionnaire. All testing was carried out individually and under controlled laboratory conditions. After observing no between- group differences on age, mood, and other drug use, ecstasy users performed significantly worse on the CAMPROMPT and RDS than did the non-users. After controlling for RDS scores, the difference between users and non-users on CAMPROMPT disappeared. The finding that ecstasy users showed reduced performance on the CAMPROMPT after controlling for CE performance suggests strongly that objective PM performance is underpinned by CE functions, suggesting CE deficits may be at the heart of ecstasy-related PM deficits.

Biography

Tom Heffernan completed his PhD in 1991 from Manchester University in England. He is currently Senior Lecturer and leads the Collaboration for Drug and Alcohol Research network at Northumbria University. He has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals and serving on the international editorial board of two peer-reviewed journals