Executive functioning deficits in cocaine-dependent individuals

Abstract

s / Drug and Alcohol Dependence 140 (2014) e86–e168 e155 Executive functioning deficits in cocaine-dependent individuals Lara Moody1, C. Franck2,1, David P. Jarmolowicz3,2, Eldon T. Mueller1, A. Carter1, K. Gatchalian1, Mikhail N. Koffarnus1, W. Bickel1 1 Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, VA, United States 2 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, United States 3 University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States Aims: Cocaine dependence is associated with deficits in executive functioning. Executive dysfunction may be both an etiological factor and a resulting condition of chronic cocaine use. A prerequisite to targeted corrective interventions is a clear understanding of which of the domains of executive functioning are impaired by cocaine-dependence. We hypothesize that all measures of executive functioning will be impaired. Methods: We compared 79 cocaine-dependent individuals, some of who were also dependent on alcohol, to 61 controls on executive functioning tasks. Each participant completed executive functioning tasks including the Stroop Task, Wisconsin Card Sort Task, Temporal Discounting Task, Conner’s Continuous Performance Task, Tower Task, Letter Number Sequence Task, and Iowa Gambling Task. These tasks were chosen to assess a variety of executive functions including cognitive control, cognitive flexibility, attention, self-monitoring, working memory, planning, decision-making, and valuation of the future. Results: Both cocaine and cocaine and alcohol-dependent individuals performed significantly worse than controls on the executive functioning tasks. The only task that substancedependent individuals did not perform significantly worse than controls was the Tower Task. Conclusions: These results provide evidence that cocaine and cocaine and alcohol-dependence are associated with decreased executive functioning across many domains including cognitive control, attention, working memory, decision-making, and valuation of the future. The absence of a significant effect for the Tower Task, an instrumentused to assess planning, indicates that the association between cocaine dependence and planning may be weaker than other executive functions. These results support the importance of further study regarding the specifics of which aspects of executive functioning are impaired during substance use as well as inform the design and implementation of executive function therapies. Financial support: NIDA and Supplement from NIAAA (R01DA024080). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.02.437 Psychiatric diagnoses and treatment outcomes in opioid-dependent individuals receiving buprenorphine and behavioral treatment Larissa Mooney, Maureen P. Hillhouse, A. Ang, K. Miotto, M. Torrington, D. Dickerson, S. MacNicoll, J. Jenkins, S. Reed, Walter Ling University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United