Neuropsychological deficits in adolescent methamphetamine abusers.
BACKGROUND
Methamphetamine (METH) is a widely abused psychostimulant that is associated with neurotoxicity and neurocognitive impairments in adults. However, the effects of METH use on neurocognitive performance of adolescents are unclear.


METHODS
Fifty-four adolescent METH users and 74 age-matched comparison subjects (ages 12 to 23 years) were evaluated with a battery of neuropsychological tests. The cognitive domains evaluated include psychomotor (Symbol Digit, Trail Making), executive function (Stroop Interference task, Wisconsin Card Sort task), fine-motor speed (Grooved Pegboard), memory (Digit span and Auditory Verbal Learning Task), as well as attention and working memory (California Computerized Assessment package).


RESULTS
METH users were slower on the Stroop Interference task than the comparison subjects (F(1,114) = 4.33, p = 0.03). METH subjects also performed worse than controls on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III/Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV (WAIS/WISC) Matrices task (F(1,114) = 4.37, p = 0.04) and performed significantly worse on the Peg Board task than the comparison subjects for both the dominant (F(1,114) = 7.56, p = 0.01) and non-dominant (F(1,114) = 6.75, p = 0.01). Lastly, length of abstinence was associated with improved performance on the Peg Board test with the dominant had (r = -0.34), as well as the WAIS/WISC Forward Digit Span task (r = 0.38)


CONCLUSIONS
METH use is associated with impaired executive functions in adolescent users.
King
George
G
Department of Psychiatry, John A Burns School of Medicine, 1356 Lusitana St 4th Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA. grking@hawaii.edu
Alicata
Daniel
D
Cloak
Christine
C
Chang
Linda
L
D000293:Adolescent; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
D008694:Methamphetamine