Cognitive Impairment in Individuals Currently Using Methamphetamine

• Published in: The American journal on addictions Vol. 9; no. 3; pp. 222 - 231
• Main Authors: Simon, Sara L., Domier, Catherine, Carnell, Jennifer, Brethen, Paul, Rawson, Richard, Ling, Walter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Informa UK Ltd 2000; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Case-Control Studies; Central Nervous System Stimulants - adverse effects; Cognition Disorders - chemically induced; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Recall; Methamphetamine - adverse effects; Substance-Related Disorders; Trail Making Test
• ISSN: 1055-0496; 1521-0391
• DOI: 10.1080/10550490050148053

Although there are increasing reports of methamphetamine use, studies examining the cognitive consequences of methamphetamine have not been performed on a population currently using the drug. To characterize this population, 65 people currently using MA regularly and 65 non-users were given a battery of cognitive tests. The battery included recall, recognition, Digit Symbol, Trail Making A&B, Stroop, Wisconsin Card Sort, backward digit span, and the FAS test of verbal fluency. The methamphetamine users were significantly more impaired on recall tasks, digit symbol, Stroop color words, and Trail Making B, but scores fell within the normal ranges on the other measures.