title: Working memory deficits in HIV-seropositive drug users.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago 60612, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bartok
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Pitrak
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Novak
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Pursell
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Mullane
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harrow
mesh_terms: 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