New research indicates that cocaine disrupts a brain region associated with error processing and attentional control. The study, which examined cocaine self-administration in rodents, sheds light on why the stimulant is linked to impaired decision-making.
The findings appear in Neuropsychopharmacology.
“We’re interested in studying the neural substrates of executive functioning, and determining how these are disrupted by addiction. Drug abuse is rampant, and individuals seldom consider that the detrimental effects of drug use on the brain can be enduring,” said study author Daniela Vazquez, a PhD student in Matthew Roesch’s laboratory at the University of Maryland.
Rats that self-administered cocaine after a month-long withdrawal period exhibited a stronger behavioral bias toward immediate reward and performed significantly worse on a reward-guided decision-making task.
Cocaine self-administration was also found to reduce attention-related neural signals in the anterior cingulate cortex, which was associated with an increase in decision-making errors.
“Cocaine self-administration leads to a persistent attenuation of neural activity related to attentional control, which translates into disrupted cognitive flexibility and impaired decision-making,” Vazquez told PsyPost.
“We are currently working on a series of experiments that will help us address whether deficits in cognitive control can be repaired in animals that have been previously exposed to drugs of abuse.”
The study, “Prior Cocaine Self-Administration Impairs Attention Signals in Anterior Cingulate Cortex“, was authored by Daniela Vázquez, Heather J Pribut, Amanda C Burton, Stephen S. Tennyson, and Matthew R Roesch.
