Effects of Hiv Infection and Former Cocaine Dependence on Neuroanatomical Measures and Neurocognitive Performance

Abstract

Evidence from animal research, postmortem analyses, and MRI investigations indicate substantial morphological alteration in brain structure as a function of HIV or cocaine dependence (CD). Although previous research on HIV+ active cocaine users suggests the presence of deleterious morphological effects in excess of either condition alone, a yet unexplored question is whether there is a similar deleterious interaction in HIV+ individuals with CD who are currently abstinent. To this end, the combinatorial effects of HIV and CD history on regional brain volume, cortical thickness, and neurocognitive performance was examined across four groups of participants: healthy controls, HIV-negative individuals with a history of CD, HIV+ individuals with no history of CD, HIV+ individuals with a history of CD. Our analyses revealed no statistical evidence of an interaction between both conditions on brain morphometry and neurocognitive performance. While descriptively, individuals with comorbid HIV and a history of CD exhibited the lowest neurocognitive performance scores, using Principle Component Analysis of neurocognitive testing data, HIV was identified as a primary driver of neurocognitive impairment. Higher caudate volume was evident in CD+ participants relative to CD- participants. Taken together, these data provide evidence of independent effects of HIV and CD history on brain morphometry and neurocognitive performance in cocaine-abstinent individuals.