Link Between Working Memory and Substance Abuse Identified

Researchers have found that the capability of the brain in handling memory can influence substance abuse and teenagers who are impulsive and easily distracted were more likely become drug addicts. The study has been conducted by researchers at University of Oregon who made use of data from a long term study involving 382 adolescents chosen from a mostly at-risk urban population.

All of the participants were between 11 and 13 years of age and the researchers found that early drug experimentation was more prevalent among adolescents whose strong impulsive behavior was not kept in check by a strong working memory ability.

“By its nature, greater executive attention enables one to be less impulsive in one's decisions and actions because you are focused and able to control impulses generated by events around you. What we found is that if teens are performing poorly on working memory tasks that tap into executive attention, they are more likely to engage in impulsive drug-use behaviors”, lead author of the study Atika Khurana said.



Source-Medindia