title: The relationships of 'ecstasy' (MDMA) and cannabis use to impaired executive inhibition and access to semantic long-term memory.
abstract: This study aimed to examine the relationship between the consumption of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)) and cannabis, and performance on the random letter generation task which generates dependent variables drawing upon executive inhibition and access to semantic long-term memory (LTM). The participant group was a between-participant independent variable with users of both ecstasy and cannabis (E/C group, n = 15), users of cannabis but not ecstasy (CA group, n = 13) and controls with no exposure to these drugs (CO group, n = 12). Dependent variables measured violations of randomness: number of repeat sequences, number of alphabetical sequences (both drawing upon inhibition) and redundancy (drawing upon access to semantic LTM). E/C participants showed significantly higher redundancy than CO participants but did not differ from CA participants. There were no significant effects for the other dependent variables. A regression model comprising intelligence measures and estimates of ecstasy and cannabis consumption predicted redundancy scores, but only cannabis consumption contributed significantly to this prediction. Impaired access to semantic LTM may be related to cannabis consumption, although the involvement of ecstasy and other stimulant drugs cannot be excluded here. Executive inhibitory functioning, as measured by the random letter generation task, is unrelated to ecstasy and cannabis consumption.
authors: Evidence-Based Practice Research Centre and Department of Psychology, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK. murphyp@edgehill.ac.uk
authors: Philip N
authors: PN
authors: Murphy
authors: Philip G
authors: PG
authors: Erwin
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Maciver
authors: John E
authors: JE
authors: Fisk
authors: Derek
authors: D
authors: Larkin
authors: Michelle
authors: M
authors: Wareing
authors: Catharine
authors: C
authors: Montgomery
authors: Joanne
authors: J
authors: Hilton
authors: Frank J
authors: FJ
authors: Tames
authors: Belinda
authors: B
authors: Bradley
authors: Kate
authors: K
authors: Yanulevitch
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Ralley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D056344:Executive Function / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006213:Hallucinogens / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000150:complications*; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006213:Hallucinogens; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine