Effects of Cocaine Drug Abuse

Biobehavioral Heterogeneity in Cocaine Dependence
This study of patterns of brain electrical activity in adults with chronic cocaine dependence began in 1992. It is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and conducted in collaboration with the Brain Research Laboratories of NYU’s Medical School. The study tracks changes in the brain wave patterns of residents using crack-cocaine at the time of admission to treatment, focusing on which features of the quantitative EEG (QEEG) remain abnormal and which revert to normal patterns, as well as determining if the abnormalities might have been present before initiation of cocaine use. To date, the research has demonstrated that a distinct QEEG profile exists for chronic cocaine users. Preliminary analysis shows that some of these abnormalities persist and remain evident during long periods of abstinence, while others revert to normal patterns.

It has also been noted that different brain images appearing shortly after cessation of drug use are predictive of length of stay in treatment, independent of length of drug exposure. Additional NIDA funding was recently secured to compare the brain wave patterns of Phoenix House residents using cocaine at admission to the brain wave patterns of their non-drug abusing siblings. This last stage will help rule out genetic anomalies as a cause of brain wave patterns observed in former crack cocaine users.