Abstract
Aims & Objectives: Word fluency is a long
established measure of executive functioning.
As well as depending on executive resources
(localised in the pre-frontal areas), word fluency is
also thought to load on the temporal lobes. Users
of MDMA (‘Ecstasy’) exhibit deficits in recall tests,
which also load on the temporal lobes, and in
measures of executive prefrontal functioning. This
raises the possibility that MDMA users will also
exhibit deficits in a word fluency task.
Design & Method: 25 ecstasy users and 31 nonecstasy users were recruited. A multivariate
design was implemented with user group
(ecstasy user/non-user) as the between
participants variable, and the three word fluency
measures as the dependent variables. The task
consisted of three parts: Firstly participants were
given four minutes to write down as many animal
names as they could. Secondly participants were
given five minutes to write down as many words
beginning with the letter ‘S’ as they could. And
finally, participants were given four minutes to
write down as many four-letter words as they
could beginning with ‘C’.
Results: MANOVA revealed that the ecstasy
users performed significantly worse on all three
word fluency measures relative to non-MDMA
user controls. The overall effects of ecstasy on
word fluency remained significant after statistical
controls for the use of cannabis during the three
months prior to testing. Control for measures of
verbal working memory reduced the MDMA
related variance by almost one half, but the effect
remained statistically significant.
Conclusion: The results provide additional
evidence of executive impairment among MDMA
users.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 2004 |
Event | British Psychological Society (BPS) Annual Conference - London, United Kingdom Duration: 1 Apr 2004 → … |
Conference
Conference | British Psychological Society (BPS) Annual Conference |
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Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
City | London |
Period | 1/04/04 → … |