Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T05:15:51.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Working memory deficits in HIV-seropositive drug users

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1997

JOHN A. BARTOK ,
EILEEN M. MARTIN ,
DAVID L. PITRAK ,
RICHARD M. NOVAK ,
KENNETH J. PURSELL ,
KATHLEEN M. MULLANE  and
MARTIN HARROW
JOHN A. BARTOK
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago IL 60612 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center-West Side, Chicago, IL 60612 Now with Rush Neurobehavioral Center, Skokie, IL
EILEEN M. MARTIN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago IL 60612 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center-West Side, Chicago, IL 60612
DAVID L. PITRAK
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine-Section of Infectious Disease, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center-West Side, Chicago, IL 60612
RICHARD M. NOVAK
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine-Section of Infectious Disease, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center-West Side, Chicago, IL 60612
KENNETH J. PURSELL
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine-Section of Infectious Disease, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612
KATHLEEN M. MULLANE
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine-Section of Infectious Disease, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60612 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center-West Side, Chicago, IL 60612
MARTIN HARROW
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago IL 60612
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We studied the integrity of working memory operations in 38 HIV-seropositive and 20 seronegative drug users, using a modified version of the Tower of London task. This new task, the Tower of London–Working Memory version (TOL–WM), includes a delayed-response component in addition to the planning required for successful performance of the standard TOL. Symptomatic HIV-seropositive participants solved significantly fewer TOL–WM problems compared to matched seronegative controls. However, seropositive and seronegative subjects showed similar overall levels of planning efficiency, suggesting that the TOL–WM deficit may be associated primarily with failure to encode or maintain an adequate online memory representation. The results of this study confirm our previous report of a possible working memory deficit in HIV-1 infection and suggest that measures of working memory have particular utility in the evaluation of HIV-related cognitive deficits. (JINS, 1997, 3, 451–456.)

Keywords

HIVDementiaWorking memoryDrug abuseNeuropsychological testsAIDS
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 3 , Issue 5 , September 1997 , pp. 451 - 456
Copyright
© 1997 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)