On the Relation Between Polydrug Use and Prospective Memory

Poster Session E - Monday, April 15, 2024, 2:30 – 4:30 pm EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Xavier L.T. Celaya¹ (xcelaya@asu.edu), Phil Peper¹, Holly O'Rourke¹, Candace Lewis¹, Gene A. Brewer¹; ¹Arizona State University

Prospective Memory (PM) involves forming intentions for future execution. Illicit drug use disrupts neural systems essential for cognitive functions that support PM like long-term memory retrieval and attentional control. However, the impact of recreational and polydrug use on PM remains underexplored in nonclinical populations. In this study we performed latent class analysis to identify patterns of polydrug use in a large undergraduate sample (n = 598). We examined the effect of self-reported drug use on PM using a comprehensive substance use questionnaire and an experimental PM task with a behavioral intervention known to improve PM in individuals with neurological impairments (i.e., implementation intention encoding). This intervention involves verbally repeating an intention during its formation and visualizing its completion. The results of our latent class analysis shows patterns of drug use where class membership consisted generally of ‘Alcohol Only’, ‘Alcohol & Cannabis (with some psychedelic use)’, and a “Illicit Polydrug’ users. We hypothesized that participants assigned to latent classes with more reported drug use would be associated with impoverished PM ability. Furthermore, we hypothesized that implementation intentions would mitigate the negative effect of drug use history on PM. Results show support for both hypotheses, where greater self-reported drug users showing deficits on the behavioral task relative to other groups that received standard encoding. Illicit Polydrug users that received implementation intention encoding did not differ in performance relative to other latent classes. The tested hypotheses will be presented with a discussion of the impact of neuromodulation via drug use on prospective memory.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Other