Indopedia All Things Marijuana
Activity in decision-making brain regions of people who use recreational stimulants predicts who will discontinue use and who will develop a drug use disorder, according to a new study led by Martin Paulus, Ph.D., of Laureate Institute of Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The study, which appears in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, measured brain activity in young adults using recreational stimulants, including cocaine and the prescription amphetamines Adderall and Ritalin, and followed up 3 years later to determine the participants’ outcome. The findings suggest that an inability to learn from previous risky decisions in some people may predispose them to continue drug use despite the negative consequences.
At a time when recreational stimulant use is quickly growing into a public health problem, the new study helps researchers understand why occasional use becomes an addiction in some people, but not others. “These results are compelling in showing that changes…
