Dr Cathy Montgomery is a Reader in Psychopharmacology and Head of the Institute for Health Research at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. Her research interests lie in the effects of substance use on neurocognition in recreational and dependent substance users, and the recovery of cognitive and neurological function during abstinence. She is particularly interested in using neuroimaging techniques such as functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy to investigate brain indices of impaired cognitive function in substance users. From 2006-2019, Cathy was Honorary Secretary of the Psychobiology Section of the British Psychological Society, and currently leads the UK ARCNWC Marginalised Groups sub-theme.

 Recreational substance use (of e.g., cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine) is associated with subjective and objective changes in mood, cognitive function and brain function which persist beyond acute intoxication. Some cognitive functions (e.g. memory updating) appear to be more affected by substance use, while others remain relatively preserved. This talk outlines our attempts to systematically investigate the effects of recreational substance use on cognitive function, and the mediating role of various factors (sleep quality, endocrine function, polysubstance use, ecological validity of tasks used). It is clear that there are a number of risk factors and individual differences in pharmacokinetic processing of recreationally used substances which could make use riskier for certain sub-groups of individuals. Combined with issues surrounding purity and strength, it is difficult to predict if an individual may be at risk of substance-related neurocognitive changes, and if these recover with prolonged abstinence. Clear communication about how to reduce risk associated with recreational substance use would feed in to harm reduction approaches for these individuals.