title: Differential Improvement of Executive Functions During Abstinence in Cocaine-Dependent Patients: A Longitudinal Study.
abstract: In substance abusers, deficits in executive functioning (EF) are relevant to understanding the behavioral regulation of substance consumption and the failure to remain abstinent.
  
  
  
  To determine the course of EF impairment, measured with traditional and ecological instruments, after 1 and 3 months of abstinence in patients with cocaine dependence.
  
  
  
  26 cocaine-only-dependent in-patients (cocaine-dependent group, CDG) and 24 nondependent controls (control group, CG) recruited from a typical population were assessed using several EF tests and questionnaires [Stroop, verbal and graphic fluency, Wisconsin Card-Sorting Test (WCST), Tower of London (TOL), and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A)] after three periods of abstinence: 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months.
  
  
  
  At 1 week (baseline), CDG underperformed CG on most EF measures (WCST categories completed; TOL-total number of moves, execution time, and rule violations; and various BRIEF-A subscales). At 1 month, CDG moderately improved its performance on several measures, meanwhile the improvement in the 12 patients who would eventually complete the 3-month abstinence proved particularly significant when compared to their baseline values. In the a posteriori comparison of the baseline values of noncompleters versus completers, scores for the former were lower on the EF tasks, but higher on the BRIEF-A. Both groups, showed significantly worse scores than CG on both instruments.
  
  
  
  Cocaine-dependent patients showed marked difficulties in the EF associated mainly with adaptive behavior to their environment. Cocaine-dependent patients with better EF at baseline improved significantly during abstinence and had better treatment adherence. Results suggest that executive improvement and treatment adherence in cocaine abusers in abstinence is related to intrinsic cognitive characteristics of patients.
authors.affiliation: a Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara , Guadalajara , Mexico.|b Departamento de Educación , Universidad de Guadalajara , Zapopan , Mexico.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Inozemtseva
authors.affiliation: a Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara , Guadalajara , Mexico.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pérez-Solís
authors.affiliation: a Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara , Guadalajara , Mexico.|b Departamento de Educación , Universidad de Guadalajara , Zapopan , Mexico.
authors.forename: Esmeralda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matute
authors.affiliation: a Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad de Guadalajara , Guadalajara , Mexico.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juárez
mesh_terms: D003042:Cocaine; D056344:Executive Function; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine
keywords: Executive functions; cocaine dependence; ecological measures; longitudinal study; treatment adherence