Cocaine's brain effect revealed

[Shampoo]

Cocaine's brain effect revealed

Brain scans have revealed a possible biological basis for cocaine addiction which may explain why some get hooked, while others can use the drug socially.

The scans show cocaine alters parts of the brain controlling behaviour and appropriate decision-making.

In effect, the drug messes with what is colloquially known as willpower - with some maybe more vulnerable than others.

Trinity College Dublin researchers will present their findings to a Royal Society meeting.

The researchers took brain scans of cocaine users while they performed computer tasks.

They found that cocaine increased activity in areas of the pre-frontal cortex.

The scans also revealed differences in brain structures of cocaine users.

It is unclear whether the differences existed before they started taking cocaine, or were a result of using the drug.

But the findings raise the possibility that differences in brain structure render some people potentially more vulnerable to the effects of the drug.

Lead researcher Dr Hugh Garavan said previous research into drug abuse had tended to focus on the emotional aspects of addictions - such as pleasure seeking, craving and withdrawal.

The latest study suggests that it is not simply these emotions that are affected by cocaine, but the way the brain deals with them, and keeps them in check by controlling a person's actions.

Better treatment

He said: "This research helps us move away from thinking of drug dependence as a moral weakness and allows us to see it as more of a medical condition.

"Understanding the role that our brain plays in addiction may also have important implications for treating long-term addiction and designing intervention therapies.

"Importantly, new medication based on certain chemical processes in the brain could be developed as currently there are no good pharmacological treatments for cocaine.

"Traditional treatment therapy such as counselling or rehab could also be adapted to train addicts to monitor their behaviour and practice impulse control."

Dr Gerome Breen, of the Institute of Psychiatry, said: "We now know that the effects of cocaine on the brain are multi-facetted.

"Dr Garavan and his collaborators have shown convincingly that the brain regions controlling impulse control have their activity altered by cocaine.

"This aids in our understanding of cocaine's effects and, thus, the causes of cocaine addiction."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7262971.stm

[TMM]

Good article, but isn't this sort of old news? I've been reading for ages that cocaine directly affects reward pathways and that some people have more natural susceptibility to dopamine stimulation than others. Maybe there's a subtlty to this study that I'm missing.

[Shampoo]

Originally Posted by TMM

Good article, but isn't this sort of old news? I've been reading for ages that cocaine directly affects reward pathways and that some people have more natural susceptibility to dopamine stimulation than others. Maybe there's a subtlty to this study that I'm missing.

It has always been well understood that many stimulants like and including cocaine act heavily on the reward centers of the brain, something that has always been implicated in the addictive properties of a drug, but only alongside the moral and 'will' related properties of addiction. I believe the point of announcing such an empirical study directly correlating the reward center stimulation and addiction without the mention of 'will-power' and other emotional and psychological factors in addiction is to give more validity to the medical treatment of addiction rather than the alternative methods that many turn to (psychotherapy, hypnosis... etc.) Medicinal treatment of addiction is a rapidly developing market, one of the largest in the pharmaceutical and psychotherapy market, and scientific evidence over the charlatans of hypnosis is a welcome addition to the endless array of 'self-help' books and subliminal messaging sleep-tapes.

[EndThisDisgustingDystopia]

It dissapoints me to see another argument for anti-drug establishments arise.

[Shampoo]

Not only is this not a new argument, but it is not necesarily a boon to the prohibition movement.

As we move towards a greater understanding of these substances, the controlled and responsible application of their psychoactive properties becomes increasingly realistic. Without the fear of unknown consequences, a fear that is increasingly diminished by such information as addiction treatment, the push to eradicate such substances loses validity. If we have the ability to treat the problem, through understanding its roots and applications, it seems it has become less of a problem. While this is not an opening for a discussion on drug-policy reform, as there are quite enough threads on that topic, it seems that ending prohibition of any particular substance with a reasonable ability to combat the negative consequences of addiction and abuse in said substance, as well as honing in on definitive definitions for the pharmodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and psychological manifestations of the substance, is a far sight more likely than legalizing anything less-understood.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Excellent post :)

[Metomni]

As we move towards a greater understanding of these substances, the controlled and responsible application of their psychoactive properties becomes increasingly realistic. Without the fear of unknown consequences, a fear that is increasingly diminished by such information as addiction treatment, the push to eradicate such substances loses validity. If we have the ability to treat the problem, through understanding its roots and applications, it seems it has become less of a problem. While this is not an opening for a discussion on drug-policy reform, as there are quite enough threads on that topic, it seems that ending prohibition of any particular substance with a reasonable ability to combat the negative consequences of addiction and abuse in said substance, as well as honing in on definitive definitions for the pharmodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and psychological manifestations of the substance, is a far sight more likely than legalizing anything less-understood.

My penguin could not have stated this fact better.

The first step towards integration of these substances into our society has got to be education. Cocaine is a perfect example, most people think it's just a fiendish drug that drives lives into the ground. Many don't even consider the efficacious, and even medicinal, uses of the drug.

They don't look at the drug's real effects, they just look at the outcome of people's lives who got hooked and are able to say, "Nope, evil drug!" With DXM and diphenhydramine on our Wal-Mart shelves and opiate painkillers like oxycodone at the pharmacy, why is it some drugs are made to look so much worse than others?

There are all the obvious facts such as the racial and SES status of crack users vs. cocaine users that many people use to rationalize their arguments against cocaine. However, my penguin has always believed that once everyone is properly educated on drugs, the atmosphere surrounding them will be much different.

In this day and age, if sex education was not undertaken, sex would be just as taboo as drugs; just some food for thought.

Reputation Comments on this post:

good agreement.

[Nose Dive]

Originally Posted by Metomni

The first step towards integration of these substances into our society has got to be education. Cocaine is a perfect example, most people think it's just a fiendish drug that drives lives into the ground. Many don't even consider the efficacious, and even medicinal, uses of the drug.

They don't look at the drug's real effects, they just look at the outcome of people's lives who got hooked and are able to say, "Nope, evil drug!" With DXM and diphenhydramine on our Wal-Mart shelves and opiate painkillers like oxycodone at the pharmacy, why is it some drugs are made to look so much worse than others?

Because the ones you can't buy on shelves in the pharmacy are enjoyable and therefore strictly un-allowed! I still have yet to understand why Ketamine, Mushrooms and Cannabis are illegal.

[Sippin40oz]

It quite clearly states that they do not know if these different brain structures exsisted before taking coke so the research is pretty useless.

People always say depression is often found in weed smokers. But what it doesnt take ito account is the fact that quite a large amount of smokers probably have these problems before they start smoking!!!