title: Impaired decision-making in opiate-dependent subjects: effect of pharmacological therapies.
abstract: Cognitive dysfunction is a major feature of drug addiction. In the present paper, we compared the decision-making ability using the Iowa gambling task of methadone- and buprenorphine-maintained individuals to non opiate-dependent drug-free controls. Buprenorphine-maintained individuals performed better than methadone-maintained individuals, and not differently than non opiate-dependent controls. In addition, methadone-maintained individuals had more perseverative errors on the Wisconsin card sorting task (WCST) as compared with non opiate-dependent drug-free controls whereas buprenorphine-maintained individuals had intermediate scores. Scores on Weschler adult intelligence scale (WAIS-R) were similar for methadone- and buprenorphine-maintained individuals whereas drug-free controls had significantly higher scores. In addition, both opiate-dependent groups performed more poorly than drug-free controls on the Benton visual retention test (BVRT). The results suggest that buprenorphine in contrast to methadone improves decision-making, and thus may be more effective in rehabilitation programs of opiate-dependent subjects and this improvement may be related to its distinct pharmacological action as a k antagonist.
authors.affiliation: G. Minardi Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Drug Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pirastu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fais
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Messina
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spiga
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Falconieri
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diana
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D002047:Buprenorphine; D008691:Methadone