Morein-Zamir et al accepted Translational Psychiatry.pdf (666.15 kB)
Take it or leave it: prefrontal control in recreational cocaine users
journal contribution
posted on 2023-08-30, 14:09 authored by Sharon Morein-Zamir, Peter Simon Jones, Edward T. Bullmore, Trevor W. Robbins, Karen D. ErscheThough stimulant drugs such as cocaine are considered highly addictive, some individuals report recreational use over long periods without developing dependence. Difficulties in response inhibition have been hypothesized to contribute to dependence, but previous studies investigating response inhibition in recreational cocaine users have reported conflicting results. Performance on a stop-signal task was examined in 24 recreational cocaine users and 32 healthy non-drug using control participants matched for age, gender and verbal intelligence during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. The two groups were further matched on traumatic childhood histories and the absence of family histories of addiction. Results revealed that recreational cocaine users did not significantly differ from controls on any index of task performance, including response execution and stop-signal reaction time, with the latter averaging 198 ms in both groups. Functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses indicated that, compared with controls, stopping in the recreational users was associated with increased activation in the pre-supplementary motor area but not the right inferior frontal cortex. Thus, findings imply intact response inhibition abilities in recreational cocaine users, though the distinct pattern of accompanying activation suggests increased recruitment of brain areas implicated in response inhibition. This increased recruitment could be attributed to compensatory mechanisms that enable preserved cognitive control in this group, possibly relating to their hypothetical resilience to stimulant drug dependence. Such overactivation, alternatively, may be attributable to prolonged cocaine use leading to neuroplastic adaptations.
History
Refereed
- Yes
Volume
5Issue number
0Page range
e582Publication title
Translational PsychiatryISSN
2158-3188External DOI
Publisher
SpringerFile version
- Accepted version
Language
- eng
Official URL
Legacy posted date
2015-10-09Legacy creation date
2019-05-16Legacy Faculty/School/Department
ARCHIVED Faculty of Science & Technology (until September 2018)Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC