Nulsen Claire, Fox Allison, Hammond Geoff
School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia.
Hum Psychopharmacol. 2011 Oct;26(7):488-97. doi: 10.1002/hup.1231. Epub 2011 Sep 25.
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of light long-term ecstasy consumption on verbal short-term and working memory and to identify the cognitive processes contributing to task performance.
Electroencephalogram was recorded while ecstasy users (N = 11), polydrug users (N = 13), and non-users (N = 13) completed forward and backward serial recognition tasks designed to engage verbal short-term memory and verbal working memory, respectively.
All three groups displayed significantly lower digit-backward span than digit-forward span with ecstasy users displaying the greatest difference. The parietally distributed P3b was significantly smaller in the digits backward task than in the digits forward task in non-ecstasy-using controls. Ecstasy users did not show the reduced P3b component in the backward task that was seen in both non-ecstasy-using control groups.
Ecstasy users' performance was suppressed more by the concurrent processing demands of the working memory task than that of the non-ecstasy-using controls. Non-ecstasy-using controls showed differential event-related potential wave forms in the short-term and working memory tasks, and this pattern was not seen in the ecstasy users. This is consistent with a reduction in the cognitive resources allocated to processing in working memory in ecstasy users.
本研究旨在确定长期少量使用摇头丸对言语短期记忆和工作记忆的影响，并确定有助于任务表现的认知过程。
在摇头丸使用者（N = 11）、多药使用者（N = 13）和非使用者（N = 13）完成分别旨在测试言语短期记忆和言语工作记忆的顺向和逆向序列识别任务时，记录脑电图。
所有三组的数字逆向跨度均显著低于数字顺向跨度，其中摇头丸使用者的差异最大。在非使用摇头丸的对照组中，数字逆向任务中顶叶分布的P3b明显小于数字顺向任务中的P3b。摇头丸使用者在逆向任务中未表现出在两个非使用摇头丸的对照组中所见的P3b成分减少。
与非使用摇头丸的对照组相比，工作记忆任务的并发处理需求对摇头丸使用者表现的抑制作用更大。非使用摇头丸的对照组在短期和工作记忆任务中表现出不同的事件相关电位波形，而在摇头丸使用者中未观察到这种模式。这与摇头丸使用者分配给工作记忆处理的认知资源减少是一致的。
