Methadone maintenance treatment and aspects of skilled performance

Abstract

Analyses of complex skills such as driving indicate 2 general areas where performance decrements could be expected as a consequence of methadone maintenance treatment: information processing and divided attention performance, and tracking performance. We describe 2 experiments: the first, an investigation of the effects of methadone maintenance treatment on visual functioning; and the second, a study of the effects of this treatment on information processing and performance under divided attention conditions. We found that subjects in methadone maintenance treatment programs showed a slower rate of information processing from immediate to short term memory, but the treatment showed no effects on visual acuity, rate of accommodation, peripheral vision, or visual search performance. We discuss these findings in terms of existing evidence and recommend replication (a).