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Dr Florentia Hadjiefthyvoulou

Forgetting to remember: The impact of ecstasy/ polydrug use on Prospective Memory in University students. Dr Florentia Hadjiefthyvoulou Prof. John Fisk (UCLAN), Dr. Nikola Bridges (UCLAN), Dr. Cathy Montgomery (LJMU). Real World Memory. Everyday memory Cognitive failures

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Dr Florentia Hadjiefthyvoulou

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  1. Forgetting to remember: The impact of ecstasy/polydrug use on Prospective Memory in University students • Dr FlorentiaHadjiefthyvoulou • Prof. John Fisk (UCLAN), Dr. Nikola Bridges (UCLAN), Dr. Cathy Montgomery (LJMU)

  2. Real World Memory • Everyday memory • Cognitive failures • Prospective memory

  3. What is Prospective Memory (PM)? Prospective Memory involves the remembering to carry out a particular behaviour some time in the future (Ellis, 1996)

  4. Classification of Prospective Memory

  5. MDMA Neurotoxicity: Evidence from neuroimaging studies • Ecstasy increases serotonin levels in the prefrontal cortices (Ricaurte et al., 1992) • Serotonergic neural damage in the hippocampus (Ricaurte et al., 1992; Fischer et al., 1995; Hatzidimitriou et al., 1999) • Serotonergic axonal loss in the frontal cortex (McCann et al., 1998) • Frontal lobe and hippocampus are involved in memory functioning and play an important role in PM processes

  6. PM deficits in Ecstasy/polydrug users: Neuropsychological evidence • Heffernan et al.,(2001a;b) • PM impairments in PMQ short-term, long-term and internally cued PM • Effect not attributed to the use of other drugs • Fisk & Montgomery (2008) • Cannabis-related deficits on all aspects of real world memory • Rodgers et al., (2003) • Long-term PM deficits associated with ecstasy • Short term PM deficits associated with cannabis

  7. PM deficits in Ecstasy/polydrug users: Neuropsychological evidence • Restricted to self-report measures • Self-report measures limitations -distinction of event and time based PM -distorted self perception • Some laboratory measures of PM • Rendell et al. (2007)

  8. Questions from previous literature • Self-perceptions of PM lapses • real or imagined? • Ecstasy/polydrug-related deficits • General PM deficits or task specific? • Distinct drug effect?

  9. Everyday and Prospective Memory deficits in ecstasy/polydrug users Rationale: • To investigate the impact of EP use on real world memory • Simple laboratory measures of PM to measure short/long term PM and event/time based PM Hadjiefthyvoulou et al. (2010)

  10. Method Participants: • 42 EP users‏ • 31 non ecstasy users • University students Measures: • A drug history questionnaire • Measures of alcohol, smoking, health and IQ Self-report measures • EMQ, CFQ, PMQ and PRMQ

  11. Method Laboratory measures - PM pattern recognition test (event based PM) - PM fatigue test (time based PM/ short term PM) - Long term recall PM (long-term PM) - RBMT (2 event, 1 time based PM)

  12. Effect of ecstasy/polydrug use on self-report measures of real world memory P<0.05 Mean values ns P<0.05 ns P<0.05 ns P<0.05 Self-report measures

  13. Effect of ecstasy/polydrug use on laboratory measures of real world memory P<.01 Mean values P<.05 ns P<.01 ns P<.05 Laboratory measures

  14. Contributions of other drugs • Cannabis • Greater lifetime exposure and increased frequency of use associated with poorer PM performance • Cocaine • Cocaine use was associated with most laboratory measures of PM • This study is the first one to link recreational use of cocaine with PM deficits • Ecstasy • No aspect of ecstasy use was statistically significant as a predictor of PM performance

  15. Further evidence for PM deficits in ecstasy/polydrug users • Hadjiefthyvoulou et al. (2011) • CAMPROMPT • 3 groups • EP related deficits in event and time based PM • No significant differences in PM performance between cannabis only users and drug naïve • Cocaine use associated with poorer event based PM • No aspect of ecstasy use was statistically significant as a predictor of PM performance

  16. General Conclusions • Ecstasy/polydrug users are impaired in all aspects of PM (not task specific) • Cocaine is linked with PM lapses • PM deficits are real rather than imagined • Which drug is primarily responsible for PM deficits • Ecstasy/polydrug use adversely effects students’ everyday functioning

  17. Thank you for listening florentia.hadjiefthyvoulou@ntu.ac.uk

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