Improved performance 4 hours after cocaine.
Cocaine (2 mg/kg) was given orally to 13 healthy volunteers and physiologic, subjective, attentional and performance effects were measured over a period of 4 h. Posner's reaction time paradigm measured the effects of cocaine on performance and on attention to visual cues. Cocaine increased heart rate, systolic blood pressure and pupil diameter and reduced skin temperature. Physiologic effects, subjective rating of intoxication, and cocaine levels in saliva peaked at approximately 75 min and returned to precocaine levels within 3 h. In contrast, a reaction time measure of performance speed on the visual attention task showed improvement for 4 h after cocaine. A measure of covert attention in the cocaine condition failed to show the improvement which occurred in the placebo condition. Less fatigue was reported 4 h after cocaine than after placebo. Cocaine users may experience the drug's stimulant effects considerably longer than the euphoriant effects.
Stillman
R
R
Psychiatry Service, Livermore VA Medical Center, CA 94550.
Jones
R T
RT
Moore
D
D
Walker
J
J
Welm
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005059:Euphoria / Q000187:drug effects; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*; D011680:Pupil / Q000187:drug effects; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D012881:Skin Temperature / Q000187:drug effects; D013997:Time Factors
C005618:benzoylecgonine; D003042:Cocaine