Working memory deficits in HIV-seropositive drug users.
We studied the integrity of working memory operations in 38 HIV-seropositive and 20 seronegative drug users, using a modified version of the Tower of London task. This new task, the Tower of London-Working Memory version (TOL-WM), includes a delayed-response component in addition to the planning required for successful performance of the standard TOL. Symptomatic HIV-seropositive participants solved significantly fewer TOL-WM problems compared to matched seronegative controls. However, seropositive and seronegative subjects showed similar overall levels of planning efficiency, suggesting that the TOL-WM deficit may be associated primarily with failure to encode or maintain an adequate online memory representation. The results of this study confirm our previous report of a possible working memory deficit in HIV-1 infection and suggest that measures of working memory have particular utility in the evaluation of HIV-related cognitive deficits.
Bartok
J A
JA
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago 60612, USA.
Martin
E M
EM
Pitrak
D L
DL
Novak
R M
RM
Pursell
K J
KJ
Mullane
K M
KM
Harrow
M
M
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests