Use of Illegal Drugs and Cognitive Performance

The regular use of some illegal drugs may cause cognitive impairments. Two of these substances are “ecstasy” and “canabis”. Recent research has focussed on attention and memory in a community-based sample of young adults derived from a large-scale epidemiological study. Subjects were sampled with varying degrees of lifetime drug use.

A dose-response relationship was found for poorer episodic memory function when ecstasy and cannabis were used. There was also a stronger tendency for attention to lapse with the higher use of these drugs.

PositiveTip: For maximum memory and alertness stay away from all illegal drugs.