Effects of Methadone on Olfactory Memory Span

Effects of Methadone on Olfactory Memory Span Melissa Deal In 2008, an estimated 268,000 individuals received methadone in certified opioid treatment programs in the United States in an effort to effectively treat an opiate addiction (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2010). Because of its high rate of use, a major concern regarding methadone maintenance is the possibility of adverse effects on cognitive functions such as memory. Mintzer and Stitzer (2002) tested methadone maintenance patients on a variety of psychomotor and cognitive measures, including long-term memory tasks and a working memory task. There were no significant impairments found on the long-term memory tasks for the methadone maintenance patients relative to the performance on the same tasks by control participants who had no history of drug abuse. However, there were significant differences on the working memory task such that the methadone maintenance patients showed impairment relative to controls. Although these results suggest that methadone use may indeed result in a working memory deficit, there are a number of additional possibilities. For example, was it the methadone dose taken by patients that resulted in the deficits, or could their long history of opiate and other drug use have been responsible? If indeed the methadone was responsible for the deficits, could a lower dose be found that would spare cognitive function, but still be therapeutically effective?