Characteristics of prospective memory deficits in HIV-seropositive substance-dependent individuals: preliminary observations.
The construct of "prospective memory" (PM) refers to a type of episodic memory for a future intention or "remembering what one must do." This function has been proposed as a candidate mechanism underlying behaviors of critical importance in HIV disease, including adherence with medication regimens and continued engagement in risk behavior. We administered tasks of time-based and event-based prospective memory and control tasks of retrospective and working memory to 31 HIV-seropositive and 35 HIV-seronegative substance-dependent individuals (SDIs). We found that compared with HIV- controls HIV+ participants showed deficits in time-based but not event-based PM. Retrospective, but not working, memory performance correlated significantly with time-based PM performance. In addition, performance on the time-based PM task was a significant predictor of scores on a self-report measure of risky sexual and injection practices. These preliminary data provide new and unique findings regarding the components of executive function mediated by prefrontal cortical systems that are impaired among HIV+ SDIs and their relevance to "real-world" behaviors.
Martin
Eileen M
EM
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. EMartin@psych.uic.edu
Nixon
Heather
H
Pitrak
David L
DL
Weddington
William
W
Rains
Niles A
NA
Nunnally
Gerald
G
Grbesic
Silvana
S
Gonzalez
Raul
R
Jacobus
Joanna
J
Bechara
Antoine
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology