Quednow
Fakultäten » Medizinische Fakultät » Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik » Affektive Erkrankungen und Allgemeinpsychiatrie Zürich Ost, Klinik für » Prof. Dr. Erich Seifritz » Quednow
Current research project
| Title / Titel | Neurosocial consequences of cocaine use: a longitudinal investigation | ||||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Cocaine use is a growing public health problem in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe. Chronic and mostly dependent cocaine users present a characteristic pattern of cognitive impairment that persists even after the post-acute withdrawal phase. In addition to the deficits in performing classical neuropsychological tasks cocaine users also exhibit decision-making deficits. Imaging studies demonstrated that chronic cocaine users display structural alterations of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which are putatively responsible for the cognitive changes. However, longitudinal studies are still lacking, and the extent to which these neurofunctional alterations are preexistent or drug-induced is currently unknown. Furthermore, little is known if recreational and non-dependent users of cocaine already exhibit neurofunctional deficits but recent studies with non-human primates suggest that even small doses of cocaine may impair cognition and the PFC. Moreover, nothing is known about the socio-cognitive abilities of cocaine users, although it has been proposed that social cognition may affect the risk for addiction, the course of dependence, and the treatment of dependent stimulant users. Thus, evaluating social cognition in recreational and chronic users of cocaine is of great interest because these abilities may provide risk markers for addiction or help to predict the outcome in treatment of dependency. Therefore, we propose to investigate different facets of social cognition in large samples of recreational and non-addicted cocaine users, cocaine-dependent patients, and drug-naïve healthy controls in a longitudinal design. To evaluate the significance and the interaction of the dopamine and the glutamate systems in putative alterations of socio-cognitive functions, we will also apply [18F]-DOPA and [11C]-ABP688 positron emission tomography (PET) in recreational cocaine users and drug-naïve controls. Classical neuropsychological tests, genetic analyses, and a psychophysiological marker sensitive for alterations of the dopamine system will complete the assessment. The proposed project will provide the unique opportunity to investigate the socio-cognitive consequences of cocaine use in a longitudinal design. Beyond that, this approach offers the possibility to answer several open questions concerning the assumed neurotoxicity of cocaine, the role of predisposing factors, and potential predictors of cocaine dependence. Moreover, through the application of molecular imaging techniques, a pharmacosensitive psychophysiolgical measure, and the analysis of genetic factors, we will be able to elucidate the neurobiological basis of cognitive disturbances in cocaine users. |
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| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | cocaine, social cognition, empathy, theory of mind, emotion perception, fairness preferences, positron emission tomography, neuropsychology, sensorimotor gating, genetics, single nucleotide polymorphism, addiction, dependence, prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex | ||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
SNF (Personen- und Projektförderung) |
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| In collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Jun 2009 to May 2013 |