Roberts, CA and Montgomery, C (2015) Cortical oxygenation suggests increased effort during cognitive inhibition in ecstasy polydrug users. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29 (11). pp. 1170-1181. ISSN 0269-8811

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Abstract

Background: It is understood that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) causes serotonin dysfunction and deficits in executive functioning. When investigating executive function, functional neuroimaging allows the physiological changes underlying these deficits to be investigated. The present study investigated behavioural and brain indices of inhibition in ecstasy-polydrug users. Methods: Twenty ecstasy-polydrug users and 20 drug-naïve participants completed an inhibitory control task (Random Letter Generation (RLG)) while prefrontal haemodynamic response was assessed using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Results: There were no group differences on background measures including sleep quality and mood state. There were also no behavioural differences between the two groups. However, ecstasy-polydrug users displayed significant increases in oxygenated haemoglobin (oxy-Hb) from baseline compared to controls at several voxels relating to areas of the inferior right medial prefrontal cortex, as well the right and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Regression analysis revealed that recency of ecstasy use was a significant predictor of oxy-Hb increase at two voxels over the right hemisphere after controlling for alcohol and cannabis use indices. Conclusion: Ecstasy-polydrug users show increased neuronal activation in the prefrontal cortex compared to non-users. This is taken to be compensatory activation/recruitment of additional resources to attain similar performance levels on the task, which may be reversible with prolonged abstinence.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	11 Medical And Health Sciences, 17 Psychology And Cognitive Sciences
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Divisions:	Natural Sciences & Psychology (closed 31 Aug 19)
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Date Deposited:	19 Nov 2015 09:52
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 13:48
DOI or ID number:	10.1177/0269881115598412
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/2358

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