Structural and functional brain changes in chronic cocaine users

Introduction: Cocaine is considered as one of the most harmful drugs because of the potentially detrimental psychological, physical, and social consequences of its regular use. Psychological changes associated with cocaine use comprise cognitive impairments that have been observed in dependent and recreational cocaine users (CUs). Moreover, cocaine use has been suggested to promote a premature ageing of the brain. However, at least the observed cognitive changes in CUs co-vary with changes in recent cocaine consumption, pointing to some reversibility of these cocaine-induced cognitive impairments. Method: Here,…