NNEUROBIOLOGICAL AND NEURO COGNITIVE EFFECTS OF METHAMPHETAMINE

Background and Aim : Methamphetamine, which was developed in 1893, is a synthetic stimulant that affects regions of the central nervous system and other major organ systems. There are several neurobiological and neuro cognitive effects of Methamphetamine that we must know to prevent and treat abusers. In this review we propose what are the Neuro cognitive effects of METHAMPHE-TAMINE.Methods : PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and Psych INFO were searched for studies reporting on Nneurobiological and Neuro cognitive effects of Methamphetamine.Results : Early studies of the cognitive effects of amphetamine, a CNS stimulant chemically similar to methamphetamine, found that abusers demonstrated deficits on tests of visual memory (Rylander, 1969), visuo perceptual skills, and cognitive flexibility (Trites et al., 1974). Mc Ketin and Mattick (1997, 1998) reported that more severe amphetamine dependence was associated with decreased neuropsychological performance in areas of attention and memory. More recently, Simon and colleagues (2000, 2002) documented impairments in learning, delayed recall and processing speed in samples of methamphetamine abusers who were current users or who had minimal abstinence. Long-term Methamphetamine abuse is associated with a wide range of deficits on explicit tasks of selective attention. Less is known however about the effects of Methamphetamine abuse on implicit measures of attention. Methamphetamine abuse is associated with neurotoxicity to fronto striatal brain regions with deleterious effects on cognitive processes. Deficits in behavioral control are thought to be one contributing factor to the sustainment of addictive behaviors in Methamphetamine abuse.Conclusion : There are several neurobiological and neuro cognitive effects of Methamphetamine that we must know to prevent and treat abusers. Such neuro cognitive effects are like impairment of memory (prospective memory, working memory, episodic memory, visual memory), attention (inattentiveness and distractibility), executive function, language, decision-making and impulsivity, learning, motor functioning, motor skills and information processing speed, visuoperceptual skills and cognitive flexibility.

کلیدواژه ها:

Neuro cognitive effects ، Methamphetamine ، neurobiological effects