Journal of North Khorasan

Background& Objectives: Methamphetamine (MA) dependence is associated with neural abnormalities and corresponding cognitive deficits, including impairment in prospective memory and executive functions. This study evaluated the hypothesis that MA use is associated with impairment in memory for intentions, or prospective memory and working memory. Materials and Methods: Twenty MA-dependent individuals, 20 detoxified MA patients and 20 demographically similar non-MA-using comparison subjects were administered the questionnaire for the subjective assessment of the prospective memory task and assignment reminder phone calls and personal belongings test. For assessment of working memory, span subtest of the Wechsler memory scale was used. Results: Results showed that the dependent and detoxified MA groups performed significantly lower than the comparison participants on overall prospective memory and working memory tasks. Conclusion: Findings suggest that individuals with MA dependence experience difficulty in the strategic components involved in the retrieval of future intentions and MA detoxified group were improved somewhat on cognitive functions in this regard.