Brain Functions That Can Prevent Relapse
Improve After A Year Of Methamphetamine Abstinence
July 1, 2009
In a study published online by the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment,
UC Davis researchers report that it takes at least a year for former
methamphetamine users to regain impulse control. The results tell recovering
substance abusers, their families and drug-treatment specialists that it can
take an extended period of time for the brain functions critical to recovery to
improve.
"Recovery from meth abuse does not happen overnight," said Ruth Salo,
lead author of the study and a UC Davis assistant professor of psychiatry and
behavioral sciences. "It may take a year - or even longer - for cognitive
processes such as impulse control and attentional focus to improve. Treatment
programs need to consider this when monitoring recovering addicts' progress
during their early periods of abstinence."
Salo specializes in the behavioral, neuropsychiatric and cognitive outcomes of
methamphetamine addiction - a particularly difficult condition to treat,
primarily due to prolonged, intense cravings for the drug. During her career,
she has worked with hundreds of methamphetamine addicts.
"All of them want to know if there is hope," Salo said. "We used
to think most, if not all, effects of meth addiction were permanent. This study
adds to the growing evidence that this assumption is not true. I can confidently
tell patients that the longer they stay in a structured rehabilitation program
and remain drug free, the more likely it is that they will recover some
important brain functions."
For the current study, Salo used the widely-validated, computer-based Stroop
attention test to measure the abilities of 65 recovering methamphetamine abusers
to use cognitive control - or direct their attention to specific tasks while
ignoring distractors. Study participants had been abstinent for a minimum of
three weeks and a maximum of 10 years, and they had previously used the drug for
periods ranging from 24 months to 28 years. The data for the 65 individuals were
compared to Stroop attention test data from 33 participants who had never used
methamphetamine.
"The test taps into something people do in everyday life: make choices in
the face of conflicting impulses that can promote a strong but detrimental
tendency," Salo explained. "For meth users, impairments in this
decision-making ability might make them more likely to spend a paycheck on the
immediate satisfaction of getting high rather than on the longer-term
satisfaction gained by paying rent or buying groceries."
The study analyzed cognitive control in terms of the amount of time since
methamphetamine was last used as well as total time spent using the drug. The
researchers found that those who were recently abstinent (three weeks to six
months) performed significantly worse on the Stroop test than those who had been
abstinent one year or longer. In addition, there was no statistical difference
between test results for those abstinent at least one year and non-drug using
controls. Longer-term methamphetamine use was associated with worse test scores.
Similarly, longer-term abstinence was connected to improved test performance.
According to Salo, the new study mirrors previous magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) studies she and her colleagues published in 2005 showing a partial
normalization of chemicals in selected brain regions after one year of
methamphetamine abstinence.
"Together, the studies provide strong evidence that, eventually, meth
abusers in recovery may be able to make better decisions and regain the impulse
control that was lost during their drug use period," she said.
Salo said that more research is needed to determine just how the brain recovers
from methamphetamine addiction and if behavioral treatments can hasten that
recovery. She plans to continue neuroimaging studies to further define the brain
functions affected by the drug. Her ultimate goal is to provide information
essential to refining treatment programs for this population of drug users.
"Meth use worldwide is pandemic," she said, referring to the estimated
35 million people who have used the neurotoxic stimulant or similar drugs.
"Recovery is difficult, but possible. The point of my research is to better
understand the neural and behavioral consequences of this toxic drug along with
the brain and behavior changes that are possible with long-term
abstinence."
Other authors of "Drug Abstinence and Cognitive Control in
Methamphetamine-dependent Individuals" include Thomas Nordahl, Martin
Leamon and Charles Moore of UC Davis; and Gantt Galloway and Christy Waters of
St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco. Moore is also affiliated with the Kaiser
Chemical Dependence Recovery Program in Sacramento.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Source:
Karen Finney
University of California - Davis - Health System
Medical News Today: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
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