Introduction. The somatic marker hypothesis proposes that certain body signals guide decision-making processes in an adaptive direction. To see the influence of these markers on decision-making we used the Iowa Gambling Task, through which several studies have shown impaired decision-making in drug-dependent patients. Objective. To assess the performance of a sample of drug-dependent patients in a task that is sensitive to the measurement of decision-making process, so as to see whether there are significant alterations, and to compare the performance of these patients with that of non-users (in the normal and inverted versions). Method. The sample consisted of 66 people (33 addicts and 33 control participants). We used a semi-structured interview on socio-demographic variables and two versions of the "Cartas" task, a computerised version of the Iowa Gambling Task. Result. Significant differences were found between the control and experimental groups in execution of the normal task, but not of the inverted version. In total, 75.76% of the drug-dependent patients showed impaired task performance, as against 24.24% who performed it correctly. Discussion. The results indicate the presence of alterations in the decision-making processes of drug-dependent patients, who did not perform as well as the control group. This may be due to difficulty in generating somatic states according to possible future consequences (myopia about the future) in patients addicted to drugs.Key Words: Somatic marker, decision-making, drug addictions, "Cartas" software. RESUMEN ABSTRACTIntroducción. La hipótesis del marcador somático propone que existen señales corporales que guían los procesos de toma de decisiones en un sentido adaptativo para el organismo. Para ver la influencia de estos marcadores sobre la toma de decisiones se ha utilizado la prueba "Iowa Gambling Task", la cual se ha comprobado su alta sensibilidad a deterioros en la toma de decisiones de pacientes drogodependientes. Objetivo. Valorar el rendimiento de una muestra de pacientes drogodependientes en una tarea sensible a la medición del proceso de toma de decisiones, para ver si existen alteraciones significativas, y comparar el rendimiento de estos pacientes con el de personas no consumidoras (en la versión normal e invertida). Método. La muestra estaba formada por 66 personas (33 drogodependientes y 33 participantes controles). Se utilizó una entrevista semiestructurada sobre variables sociodemográficas y dos versiones de la tarea "Cartas", versión computerizada de la Iowa Gambling Task. Resultados. Se dan diferencias significativas entre el grupo control y experimental en la ejecución de la tarea normal pero no en la inversa. El 75,76% de los pacientes drogodependientes presentan deterioro en la ejecución de la tarea frente a un 24,24% que la realizan de forma adecuada. Discusión. Los resultados indican la presencia de alteraciones en los procesos de toma de decisiones de los pacientes drogodependientes, mostrando éstos un rendimiento menor que el grupo control. Esto ...

Several neuropsychological studies have shown that chronic cannabis users have cognitive impairments, including decision-making process.Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the process, through the somatic marker hypothesis in a sample of 41 cannabis users compared with a control group of equal size, and to analyze the influence of age, sex, education level, age of onset and amount of daily consumption. In order to do that, the software "Cartas" (similar to the Iowa Gambling Task), was used, implementing its two versions: normal and reverse. The results show significant differences between cannabis users and control group in the normal and reverse task execution. By block analysis, the control group obtained higher scores in the normal task execution, however, in the reverse task, the differences between groups are present in the initial task execution but not final task execution. None of the analyzed variables (age, sex ...) are significantly related to task performance. These results suggest the existence of alterations in the decision making process of consumers cannabis, which may relate to the difficulty in generating somatic markers, and not for insensitivity punishments insensitivity.