Dual-memory processes in crack cocaine dependents: The effects of childhood neglect on recall |
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Authors: | Saulo G. Tractenberg Thiago W. Viola Carlos F. A. Gomes Luis Eduardo Wearick-Silva Christian H. Kristensen Lilian M. Stein |
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Affiliation: | 1. Centre of Studies and Research in Traumatic Stress (NEPTE), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil;2. Post-Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil;3. Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA |
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Abstract: | Exposure to adversities during sensitive periods of neurodevelopment is associated with the subsequent development of substance dependence and exerts harmful, long-lasting effects upon memory functioning. In this study, we investigated the relationship between childhood neglect (CN) and memory using a dual-process model that quantifies recollective and non-recollective retrieval processes in crack cocaine dependents. Eighty-four female crack cocaine–dependent inpatients who did (N = 32) or did not (N = 52) report a history of CN received multiple opportunities to study and recall a short list composed of familiar and concrete words and then received a delayed-recall test. Crack cocaine dependents with a history of CN showed worse performance on free-recall tests than did dependents without a history of CN; this finding was associated with declines in recollective retrieval (direct access) rather than non-recollective retrieval. In addition, we found no evidence of group differences in forgetting rates between immediate- and delayed-recall tests. The results support developmental models of traumatology and suggest that neglect of crack cocaine dependents in early life disrupts the adult memory processes that support the retrieval of detailed representations of events from the past. |
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Keywords: | Memory Cocaine Childhood neglect Dual processes Free recall |
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