11 - Cocaine Effects on Brain Function

Abstract

Recently, important advances in the understanding of the basic pharmacological mechanism of cocaine's effect on the Central Nervous System (CNS) have occurred because of the use of various brain imaging techniques that can assess different components of brain activity/function in a living organism. Cocaine stimulates the CNS and elevates the mood in a dose-related manner. After a generalized “alerting” effect, subjects report a profound sense of increased well being that often includes increases in self-confidence, emotional state, and sexual feelings. This chapter elucidates that Electroencephalography (EEG) is a technique for measuring the electrical activity of neurons located in both the cerebral cortex and subcortical nuclei. When measuring the pharmacological effects of a drug it is desirable to reduce or eliminate as many confounding variables as possible. This is particularly important in studies that are designed to detect subtle, but important, changes in brain function that are associated with specific mood states. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and spectroscopy are both maturing very rapidly, and their use in drug abuse research in the very near future will help solve some of the mysteries associated with cocaine's acute and chronic effects.