title: Cocaine users differ from normals on cognitive tasks which show poorer performance during drug abstinence.
abstract: Seventeen non-treatment seeking cocaine-dependent individuals participated in three-week longitudinal inpatient studies of cognitive changes during drug use and abstinence. Protocols included three days drug-free baseline, three days cocaine self-administration, and two weeks complete abstinence. A repeatable cognitive battery showed attention and delayed verbal recognition memory but not working memory to be impaired in cocaine users compared to age- and sex-matched normative values. Attention was significantly poorer during the first and second week of abstinence compared to days on which cocaine was used suggesting that certain cocaine-induced impairments may be acutely normalized by cocaine use, but resurface during abstinence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Center for Sleep and Cognition, Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. epacesch@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Edward F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Pace-Schott
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Malison
authors.forename: Carl L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Edgar
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stickgold
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D003237:Connecticut / Q000453:epidemiology; D016578:Crack Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012646:Self Administration; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D016578:Crack Cocaine