Washington, Oct 22 (ANI): A new study by American researchers has found that that a high intake of amphetamine during adolescence can lead to long-term memory impairments.

The study team led by Joshua Gulley, professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, studied the impact of amphetamine on rats to come up with their findings.

Gulley and his team found that amphetamine overdose caused a loss in short-term or “working” memory of adolescent rats that was more pronounced than in adult rats.

Gulley said: “Animals that were given the amphetamine during the adolescent time period were worse at tasks requiring working memory than adult animals that were given the same amount of amphetamine as adults.

“This tells us that their working memory capacity has been significantly altered by that pre-exposure to amphetamine.”

According to the report people taking amphetamines for therapeutic purposes can also suffer from its negative effects.

Speaking about amphetamine abuse by adolescents Gulley said: “Adolescence is a time when the brain is continuing to develop into its mature form, so drug exposure during this critical period could have long-lasting, negative consequences.

“Our findings reveal that adolescents are particularly sensitive to the adverse effects of amphetamine on cognitive function and that these effects can persist well after drug use is discontinued.” (ANI)