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Brain Morphology of Cannabis Users With or Without Psychosis: A Pilot MRI Study

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Visuospatial working memory impairment in current and previous ecstasy/polydrug users.

John E Fisk¹, Catharine Montgomery, Florentia Hadjiefthyvoulou

¹Department of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. jfisk@uclan.ac.uk

Human Psychopharmacology

|June 16, 2012

Summary

Ecstasy users show deficits in visuospatial working memory (VSWM), particularly with complex tasks. This impairment persists even after accounting for other drug use, suggesting a specific effect of ecstasy.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychology

Background:

Previous studies indicate ecstasy users have visuospatial processing deficits.
Observed impairments often relate to recalling complex visual and geometric patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if ecstasy use is linked to deficits in serial spatial recall and visuospatial working memory (VSWM).

Main Methods:

38 current ecstasy/polydrug users, 16 past users, and 52 non-users completed serial simple spatial recall and VSWM tasks.

Main Results:

Both current and previous ecstasy users demonstrated VSWM task deficits.
After controlling for cannabis and cocaine use, the overall group effect was marginally significant.
A significant ecstasy-related VSWM deficit was evident when comparing users directly with non-users.

Conclusions:

Ecstasy users exhibit visuospatial processing impairments, especially under high cognitive load.
Findings suggest potential ecstasy-related dysfunction in posterior parietal/occipital areas or dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Further research is required to identify the precise origin of these observed VSWM deficits.