Table 1.
Summary of studies that have investigated cognitive deficits in meth use disorder, ordered in ascending order of shortest abstinence length reported in the sample. Percentage of female participant is specified if reported.
| Study | Sample | n (% females) | Learning and Memory | Social Cognition | Working Memory | Inhibition & Impulsive Control | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types (measures) | Impaired in meth? | Types (measures) | Impaired in meth? | Types (measures) | Impaired in meth? | Types (measures) | Impaired in meth? | |||
| Dean et al. (34) | Healthy | 17 (53%) | Verbal; Visual (LNS; SCAP) |
No
|
Inhibition (Stroop color-word; CPT; ANT) | Yes | ||||
| Chronic meth users (current) | 24 (50%) | |||||||||
| Lyoo et al. (35) | Healthy | 120 (20%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (current) | 106 (21%) | |||||||||
| Mahoney et al. (36) | Healthy | 31 (45%) | Impulsivity (BIS) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (current) | 31 (29%) | |||||||||
| Kim et al. (37) | Healthy | 53 (23%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (current) | 44 (20%) | |||||||||
| Andres et al. (38) | Healthy | 34 (38%) | Impulsivity (BIS) | Yes, but only in current users | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (current) | 27 (44%) | |||||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 1 month–24 years) | 32 (37%) | |||||||||
| Su et al. (39) | Healthy | 346 (∼60%) | Verbal (RBANS; OCL) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (last use 1–7 days) | 178 (∼18%) | |||||||||
| Simon et al. (40) | Healthy | 65 (60%) | Verbal; Visual (repeated memory test) | Yes (verbal and visual) | Verbal (digit span) | Yes | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||
| Chronic meth users (last use within 3 days) | 65 (45%) | |||||||||
| Simon et al. (41) | Healthy | 40 (65%) | Verbal; Visual (repeated memory test) | Yes (verbal): No (visual) | Verbal (digit span) | Yes | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||
| Chronic meth users (last use within 3 days) | 40 (50%) | |||||||||
| Monterosso et al. (42) | Healthy (smokers) | 14 (28%) | Inhibition (SSRT) | Yes | ||||||
| Healthy (non-smokers) | 29 (67%) | |||||||||
| Chronic meth users (last use 5–7 days) | 11 (36%) | |||||||||
| Thompson (22) | Healthy | 21 (52%) | Visual (repeated memory test) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (last use 19 out of 30 days) | 22 (32%) | |||||||||
| Iudicello et al. (43) | Healthy | Both times: 38 (8%) | Verbal; Visual (BVMT-R; HVLT-R) | Baseline & follow-up: Yes for non-abstinent users (visual, verbal) | Verbal (PASAT; LNS) | Baseline & follow-up: No | ||||
| Chronic meth users (baseline: current; follow-up: non-abstinent) | Both times: 58 (9%) | |||||||||
| Chronic meth users (baseline: current; follow-up: abstinent 1 year) | Both times: 25 (12%) | |||||||||
| Nestor et al. (23) | Healthy | 18 (39%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 4–7 days) | 10 (50%) | |||||||||
| Simon et al. (44) | Healthy | Baseline: 28 (50%) Follow-up: 21 (43%) | Verbal; Visual (Repeated memory test; Selective reminder test) | Baseline & follow-up: No | Verbal; Visual (digit span; reading span; missing digit span) | Baseline & follow-up: No | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Baseline & follow-up: No | ||
| Chronic meth users (baseline: abstinent 4–9 days; follow-up: abstinent 1 month) | Baseline: 27 (37%) Follow-up: 18 (28%) | |||||||||
| Kalechstein et al. (45) | Healthy | 18 (17%) | Verbal; Visual (AVLT; WMS; CFT) | Yes (verbal); No (visual) | Verbal; Visual (LNS; VMS) | No | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 5–14 days) | 27 (30%) | |||||||||
| Schwartz et al. (24) | Healthy | 44 (50%) | Impulsivity (DDT) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 14–160 days) | 61 (49%) | |||||||||
| Hoffman et al. (46) | Healthy | 41 (27%) | Verbal (AVLT; Babcock story recall) | Yes | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | No | ||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 0.5–6 months) | 41 (24%) | |||||||||
| Woods et al. (47) | Healthy | 71 (41%) | Verbal (HVLT-R) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 0.2–18.2 months) | 87 (31%) | |||||||||
| Van Der Plas et al. (48) | Healthy | 36 (47%) | Visual (Tic tac toe) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent >15 days) | 38 (66%) | |||||||||
| Boileau et al. (49) | Healthy | 14 (21%) | Verbal (digit span) | No | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼19 days) | 16 (31%) | |||||||||
| Kim et al. (50) | Healthy | 27 (0%) | Facial affect recognition (facial emotion recognition task; eye test; hitting task) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼20 days) | 28 (0%) | |||||||||
| Uhlmann et al. (25) | Healthy | 40 (28%) | Impulsivity (UPPS-P impulsive behavior scale) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼21 days) | 39 (28%) | |||||||||
| Uhlmann et al. (51) | Healthy | 21 (19%) | Facial affect recognition; Theory of mind (emotion recognition task; mind in the eyes test) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼21 days) | 21 (19%) | |||||||||
| Salo et al. (52) | Healthy | 38 (45%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes, but only in early abstinence | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 3 weeks–6 months) | 41 (54%) | |||||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent > 1 year) | 28 (68%) | |||||||||
| Gonzalez et al. (53) | Healthy | 19 (37%) | Verbal (digit span) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼30 day) | 16 (25%) | |||||||||
| Morgan et al. (54) | Healthy | 110 (36%) | Visual (BVMT-R) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 1.5–5 months) | 114 (30%) | |||||||||
| Zhong et al. (32) | Healthy | Baseline: 58 (36%) Follow-up 1: 29 Follow-up 2: 25 | Verbal; Visual (ISL; OCL) | Baseline & follow-up 1: Yes (verbal) No (visual) Follow-up 2: No (verbal & visual) | Facial affect recognition (social emotion cognitive task) | Baseline: Yes Follow-up 1 & 2: No | Visual (CPAL; 2-back task) | Baseline: Yes Follow-up 1 & 2: No | ||
| Chronic meth users (baseline: abstinent ∼1.5 months; follow-up 1: abstinent ∼4.5 months; follow-up 2: abstinent ∼7.5 months) | Baseline: 54 (26%) Follow-up 1: 44 Follow-up 2: 35 | |||||||||
| Salo et al. (55) | Healthy | 12 (0%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 2–4 months) | 8 (0%) | |||||||||
| Salo et al. (56) | Healthy | 16 (50%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 2–12 months) | 12 (58%) | |||||||||
| Kim et al. (57) | Healthy | 20 (25%) | Inhibition (WCST) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 2.6–30.6 months) | 29 (7%) | |||||||||
| Rendell et al. (58) | Healthy | 20 (40%) | Verbal; Visual (AVLT; virtual week) | Yes | Verbal (digit span) | Yes | ||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 3–8 months) | 20 (40%) | |||||||||
| Henry et al. (59) | Healthy | 20 (40%) | Verbal (AVLT) | Yes | Facial affect recognition; Theory of mind (facial affect test; mind in the eyes test) | Yes | ||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 3–8 months) | 20 (40%) | |||||||||
| Johanson et al. (60) | Healthy | 18 (33%) | Verbal (CVLT) | Yes | Visual (SWM; DMS) | No | ||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 0.25–18 years) | 16 (31%) | |||||||||
| Iudicello et al. (61) | Healthy | 26 (8%) | Prospective (MIST) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼105 days) | 39 (58%) | |||||||||
| Cherner et al. (62) | Healthy | 46 (50%) | Verbal; Visual (BVMT-R; HVLT-R; story memory test; figure memory test) | Yes | Verbal (PASAT; LNS) | No | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | No | ||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼4 months) | 54 (26%) | |||||||||
| Rippeth et al. (63) | Healthy | 60 (50%) | Verbal; Visual (BVMT-R; HVLT-R) | Yes | Verbal (PASAT; LNS) | Yes | ||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼4.5 months) | 47 (36%) | |||||||||
| Chang et al. (64) | Healthy | 20 (50%) | Verbal (AVLT) | No | Visual (One-back task) | No | ||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent 6–8 months) | 20 (50%) | |||||||||
| King et al. (65) | Healthy | 74 (50%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼252 days) | 54 (68%) | |||||||||
| Stock et al. (66) | Healthy | 32 | Verbal; Visual (digit span; Corsi block span) | No | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes, but only in early abstinence | ||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼9.9 months) | 13 (38%) | |||||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼47.6 months) | 14 (43%) | |||||||||
| Salo et al. (26) | Healthy | 30 (43%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼13.7 months) | 30 (50%) | |||||||||
| Gonzalez et al. (67) | Healthy | 41 (51%) | Verbal; Visual (HVLT-R; BVMT-R; story memory test; figure memory test) | Yes | Verbal (PASAT, LNS) | No | ||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent up to 18 months) | 26 (46%) | |||||||||
| Salo et al. (68) | Healthy | 16 (50%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼20 months) | 36 (64%) | |||||||||
| Salo et al. (69) | Healthy | 17 (47%) | Inhibition (Stroop color-word) | Yes | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼20.98 months) | 37 (65%) | |||||||||
| Moon et al. (70) | Healthy | 18 (0%) | Verbal; Visual (AVLT; CFT) | Yes (verbal); No (visual) | ||||||
| Chronic meth users (abstinent ∼1.79 years) | 19 (0%) | |||||||||
ANT, attention networks task; AVLT, auditory verbal learning test; BIS, Barratt impulsiveness scale; BVMT-R, brief visuospatial memory test—revised; CFT, complex figure test; CPAL, continuous paired association learning task; CPT, continuous performance test; CVLT, California verbal learning test; DDT, delayed discounting task; DNM, delayed non-match to sample task; DMS, delayed match to sample; HVLT-R, Hopkins verbal learning test—revisited; ISL, international shopping list task; LNS, letter-number sequence; MIST, memory for intentions screening test; OCL, one card learning task; PASAT, paced auditory serial addition task; RBANS; repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status; SCAP, spatial capacity delayed response test; SSRT; stop-signal reaction time; SWM, spatial working memory span; VMS, visual memory span; WCST, Wisconsin card sorting test; WMS, Wechsler memory scale.