Abusing Cocaine Can Affect Your Ability to Make Decisions
For the study, the two scientists reached out to 30 individuals, 15 active cocaine users and 15 non-users to act as the control. Each participant was given a 6-second memory test of letters and then an 8-second test with a rehearsed list. The participants were asked to press a button when they viewed a letter, not on the preceding list. During this study, their brains were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This technology illustrated nerve cell activity during task performance.
The group that consisted of the cocaine abusers were not as accurate as their control counterparts by a large margin. By using brain imaging technology, the researchers were able to determine that the demands of remembering required increased activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the prefrontal cortex areas. Dr. Garavan stated, “Previous research that examined cognitive function in cocaine abusers identified decreased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex,” and that “our study is the first to show that the difficulty cocaine users have with inhibiting their actions, particularly when high levels of reasoning and decision-making are required, relate directly to this reduced capacity for controlling activity in the ACC and prefrontal regions of the brain.”
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