Pubdate: Wed, 01 Jan 2003
Source: Bergen Record (NJ)
Copyright: 2003 Bergen Record Corp.
Contact:  http://www.bergen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/44
Author: Malcolm Ritter

COCAINE HURTS BRAIN'S PLEASURE CIRCUITS IN STUDY

NEW YORK - Chronic cocaine use harms brain circuits that help produce the 
sense of pleasure, which may help explain why cocaine addicts have a higher 
rate of depression, a study suggests.

It's not clear whether cocaine kills brain cells or merely impairs them, or 
whether the effect is reversible, said the study's author, Dr. Karley 
Little. But it's bad news for cocaine addicts in any case, he said.

"I personally wouldn't want to lose 10 [percent] or 20 percent of my 
reward-pleasure center neurons, or have them just deranged or not working 
right," said Little, of the Ann Arbor, Mich., Veterans Affairs Medical 
Center and the University of Michigan.

He and colleagues studied brain samples taken during autopsies from 
long-term, heavy cocaine users.

Their results were reported in the January issue of the American Journal of 
Psychiatry.

Little said the research did not reveal whether the brain impairment 
resulted from years of use or just recent use before death. Stephen Kish, 
head of the human brain laboratory at the Center for Addiction and Mental 
Health in Toronto, said researchers have "always considered cocaine to be a 
dangerous drug" because of its potential for addiction and harm to the heart.

"We now have to add to the list [of risks] a damaging effect of cocaine on 
the brain, which was something we never expected before," Kish said.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart