Aspects of stimulus-response (S-R) learning, mediated by striatal dopamine signaling, have been found to be altered in cocaine users relative to healthy controls. However, the influence of cocaine users' marijuana and alcohol use has not been accounted for. This study evaluated S-R learning and other neurocognitive functions in cocaine users while controlling for the relative influences of marijuana and alcohol use. Twenty-five long-term cocaine users and 2 control groups (25 moderate marijuana and alcohol users and 23 healthy controls) completed a computerized assessment of probabilistic category learning (the Weather Prediction task), as well as measures of equivalence learning, declarative learning, and executive, attentional, and motor function. Cocaine users exhibited decreased performance on the Weather Prediction task, as well as measures of declarative learning, attention, and motor function (p < 0.05), relative to both control groups. Cocaine users exhibited decrements in probabilistic category learning, declarative recall, and attentional and motor function, compared with both marijuana and alcohol users and nondrug users. Therefore, these decrements appear to be specifically related to the cocaine use, but not the moderate marijuana and alcohol use, of long-term cocaine users.
Objective
This study examined learning functions in short-term cocaine users and control participants.
Method
Seventeen active cocaine users (reporting 3.5 mean years of cocaine use) and seventeen non-cocaine-using controls (with similar reported levels of alcohol and marijuana use) were compared on tasks measuring different aspects of learning.
Results
The cocaine users performed more poorly on the Weather Prediction and List-Learning tasks, as well as supplementary executive and psychomotor function tasks, than controls.
Conclusions
Individuals with a relatively short duration of cocaine use exhibited moderate weaknesses in probabilistic category learning, verbal learning and psychomotor functions, relative to controls. These weaknesses may underpin difficulty in learning from the probabilistic consequences of behavior and hinder the ability to respond to cognitive-behavioral treatments.
Objective
This study examined the relationship between subjective measures of inattention/hyperactivity-impulsivity and mood and objective measures of neurocognitive function in cocaine users.
Design
Ninety-four active cocaine users not seeking treatment (73 male, 21 female) were administered two self-report psychiatric measures (the ADHD Rating Scale – Fourth Edition; ARS-IV), and the Beck Depression Inventory – Second Edition; BDI-II), and a battery of tests measuring attention, executive, psychomotor, visual and verbal learning, visuospatial, and language functions. Correlations between scores on the psychiatric measures (total and subscale) and the neurocognitive measures were examined.
Results
While scores on the BDI-II and ARS-IV were correlated with each other (p<0.01), scores on both self-report measures were largely uncorrelated with neurocognitive test scores (p>0.05).
Conclusion
There was a minimal relationship between psychiatric measures that incorporate subjective assessment of cognitive function, and objective neurocognitive measures in nontreatment-seeking cocaine users, consistent with previous findings in other samples of substance users. This suggests that self-report measures may have limited utility as proxies for neurocognitive performance.
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