Does Zoloft affect memory?

How does nightly use of THC affect daily performance in working memory?

• I recently took a series of psychological tests. I'm in the first percentile when it comes to verbal reasoning, but my working memory is "near the low end of the average range". These two dimensions usually correlate. The strong contrast was used to diagnose me with ADHD. Unless I'm overloaded with work, I smoke marjiuana every evening 2-3 hours before going to sleep. The chief reason I smoke is to stimulate a flow of creative thoughts. I notice that it works by checking for correlations between smoking periods and number of words written. On the flip side, I notice that, when high, my working memory takes a hit. This doesn't bother me since word processors act as an extension of my working memory―I can explore and refine complex thoughts even with low working memory. However, I would be bothered if I learned that, throughout the day my working memory is worse because of last night's consumption. I only smoke in small quantities (less than 0.5g, usually ~0.25g). I assumed that, in such low quantities, this would have a negligeable impact on my working memory during the day. I try to challenge such assumptions, but I don't notice a difference when I stop smoking for extended periods of time. Moreover, the formal research isn't fine-grained enough to provide a direct answer to my question. I'll meet a psychiatrist, but for a question like this I think that Quora can provide richer answers. If there's a reliable way to test my working memory, then I could use that to figure out the extent to which it affects me. But I know of no such means.

• Answer:

  Why don't you replicate and administer to yourself the tests devised by the investigators of this paper: Kane, M. J., D. Z. Hambrick, et al. (2004). "The generality of working memory capacity: a latent-variable approach to verbal and visuospatial memory span and reasoning." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General; Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 133(2): 1 http://www.psychology.gatech.edu/renglelab/Publications/2004/The%20generality%20of%20working%20memory%20capacity%20A%20latent%20variable%20approach%20to%20verbal%20and%20visuospatial%20memory%20span%20and%20reasoning.pdf