Stimulant Abusers' Regard for Future Improves With Memory Training | National Institute on Drug Abuse

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Stimulant Abusers' Regard for Future Improves With Memory Training National Institute on Drug Abuse

Exercises to strengthen working memory may have a place in treatment.

December 2011

Lori Whitten, NIDA Notes Staff Writer

Compared to most other people, addicted individuals typically place a much higher premium on immediate gratification compared to future rewards. One scientific theory attributes this trait to weakness in a brain system that weighs alternative courses of action in light of their likely impact on long-term goals. A recent NIDA-funded study supports this view and suggests that the weakness prevents individuals from recalling experiences that would enable them to better appreciate the value of delayed rewards.
In the study, memory training increased stimulant-dependent individuals’ willingness to wait for a larger sum of money rather than accept a smaller one right away. If the finding is replicated, memory training may have a place in substance abuse treatment as a way to help patients reject readily available drug highs in favor of the longer-term satisfactions of drug-free living.