Cognitive Effects of Drug Abuse Volume 5 - Issue 1
Jl Vilchez*
Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton Duc Thang University, Vietnam
Received: May 15, 2018; Published: May 30, 2018
*Corresponding author: Jl Vilchez, Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
There is lack of studies that exhaustively work on the cognitive consequences of psychotropic substance abuse. Literature shows that the
most affected cognitive processes because this abuse is learning, memory and cognitive flexibility. Recent data using experimental Psychology
tasks have pointed out that consumer population has significantly greater Reaction Times than the non-consumer population in these three
cognitive areas. Drug-rehabilitation centers must take into account neurocognitive stimulation within the treatments they offer to this kind of
patients.
The necessity of quantitative methods of measuring, Recreational
drugs is the major cause of impairing the Central Nervous
System (CNS; World Health Organization [WHO], 2005); altering
both consciousness [1] and behavior [2]. The influence of drugs
on the CNS materializes through the drug´s action mechanisms on
neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, such as [3]:
a) Nicotine, on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors;
b) Alcohol, on gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) and glutamate
N-methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptors;
c) Marijuana, on cannabinoid receptors1 (CB1R);
d) Morphine and heroin, on endorphins (EDFs); and
e) Amphetamines, methylphenidate and cocaine, on the active
dopamine transporter (TAD).
The high-level cognitive functions reside on the cerebral cortex
[1]. Cognition is the ability of acquiring, storing, retrieving and
using knowledge [4]. In this sense, substance use and abuse are
para-normative manners of altering the neuronal systems that underlie
cognitive functions. In other words, drugs alter “functional
systems” [5]. Among these functions, learning is defined as the relatively
permanent change in the behavior from the experience [6];
knowledge, strategies, skills, beliefs and attitudes are implicit in the
definition. Substance abuse makes it slower the performance of this
cognitive process [7]. On the other hand, memory is the capacity of
the CNS for encoding, storing, organizing, or retrieving information
[8]. Specially, in the consumption of marijuana [9], this cognitive
function is affected. Likewise, compulsive alcohol consumption
is related to alterations on executive functions such as planning,
self-regulation, impulse control and decision making [10].
The so-called executive functions are the most complex functions
performed by human beings [6]. These highest-level functions
are supported by the interaction of nuclei located in the prefrontal
cortex. In general terms, the prefrontal cortex facilitates
the adaptation of the human being to new situations. In this sense,
cognitive flexibility is the ability to change criteria in monitoring
strategies for performing tasks [11], by restructuring the “mental
footnotes” [12-14] associated to those contexts. Executive functions
are the most sensitive functions to the impairment produced
by recreational drugs [15]. When environments change, human
beings need to inhibit the automatic responses, which are evoked
in their cognitive systems, and carry out more adaptive behaviors
[11]. Cognitive flexibility allows subjects to select new strategies to
develop a task [6]. In measuring cognitive impairment, the studies
in the literature mainly use questionnaires [3,4,6,7,15-21]. Nowadays,
there is a new tendency [22-27] to use quantitative methods
(by using experimental Psychology tasks) for evaluating cognitive
damage. By using Reaction Times (RTs), it is possible to quantify
the differences more sensitively and to test the level of impairment
between cognitive functions.