Executive dysfunction in substance dependent individuals during drug use and abstinence: An examination of the behavioral, cognitive and emotional correlates of addiction
Abstract
Increasing evidence indicates that substance-dependent individuals (SDI) are impaired in executive control tasks relying on different systems within the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Three different functional systems have been described: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) circuits. Dysfunction within each PFC system is associated with different behavioral, cognitive, and emotional abnormalities. Few studies have conducted an exhaustive examination of all these different factors in SDI. In this study, SDI (including alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamine polysubstance users, n=35) were compared with healthy controls (n=36) on a series of behavioral (Frontal Systems Behaviour Scale, FrSBe), cognitive (N-back, Go-No Go, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Tasks), and emotional (International Affective Picture System, IAPS) tasks, each of which was thought to tax a different component of these PFC functional systems. SDI showed greater behavioral problems in the apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction subscales of the FrSBe. Behavioral deficits were significantly associated with several real-life domains in which SDI typically have problems. SDI also showed poorer performance on cognitive tests of working memory, response inhibition and mental flexibility, and abnormal processing of affective images from the IAPS. Cognitive, behavioral, and emotional measures were moderately correlated.
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Deficits in the ability to flexibly update behaviour are manifest in a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia.
“Deficits in the ability to flexibly update behaviour are manifest in a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including autism, obsessive–compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia [23–30]”
Our results are in keeping with deficits in the ability to flexibly update behaviour observed in neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson's Disease, schizophrenia and autism.
“Moreover, our results are in keeping with deficits in the ability to flexibly update behaviour observed in neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, schizophrenia and autism [23–31].”
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- Authors
- VERDEJO-GARCÍA, A., BECHARA, A., RECKNOR, E. C., & PÉREZ-GARCÍA, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- ORCID
- BECHARA, ANTOINE
- Venue
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2006-05
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 03
- Pages
- 405-15
- ISSN
- 1355-6177 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7661
- OpenAlex
- W2121767833
- Cited by
- 315
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 32
- FWCI
- 7.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA011779)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Historical and Modern Theater Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- executive dysfunction, substance dependence, prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, alcohol consumption, cocaine use, methamphetamine use, polydrug use, apathy, disinhibition, working memory, response inhibition, cognitive flexibility
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Ethanol, Mental Disorders, Cocaine, Cognition Disorders, Female, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Male, Methamphetamine, Nerve Net, Neuropsychological Tests, Severity of Illness Index, Temperance, Prefrontal Cortex, Mood Disorders, Substance-Related Disorders
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