Acute effects of cocaine and cannabis on response inhibition in humans: an ERP investigation

Abstract

Substance abuse has often been associated with alterations in response inhibition in humans. Not much research has examined how the acute effects of drugs modify the neurophysiological correlates of response inhibition, or how these effects interact with individual variation in trait levels of impulsivity and novelty seeking. This study investigated the effects of cocaine and cannabis on behavioural and event-related potential (ERP) correlates of response inhibition in 38 healthy drug using volunteers. A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized three-way crossover design was used. All subjects completed a standard Go/NoGo task after administration of the drugs. Compared with a placebo, cocaine yielded improved accuracy, quicker reaction times and an increased prefrontal NoGo-P3 ERP. Cannabis produced opposing results; slower reaction times, impaired accuracy and a reduction in the amplitude of the prefrontal NoGo-P3. Cannabis in addition decreased the amplitude of the parietally recorded P3, while cocaine did not affect this. Neither drugs specifically affected the N2 component, suggesting that pre-motor response inhibitory processes remain unaffected. Neither trait impulsivity nor novelty seeking interacted with drug-induced effects on measures of response inhibition. We conclude that acute drug effects on response inhibition seem to be specific to the later, evaluative stages of response inhibition. The acute effects of cannabis appeared less specific to response inhibition than those of cocaine. Together, the results show that the behavioural effects on response inhibition are reflected in electrophysiological correlates. This study did not support a substantial role of vulnerability personality traits in the acute intoxication stage.

Acute effects of cocaine and cannabis on reversal learning as a function of COMT and DRD2 genotype

“…First, cannabis might improve reward versus punishment reversal learning as a result of the dopamine-enhancing effects. Second, cannabis might have a valence-independent impairing effect on reversal learning, consistent with prior observations that cannabis reduces sensitivity to external reinforcing stimuli and impairs other executive functions (e.g., Spronk et al 2015 ). Furthermore, we hypothesized that these drug effects might vary as a function of individual genetic differences in the COMT Val108/158Met and DRD2 Taq1A polymorphisms.…”

“…Especially for cocaine, acute effects are often fundamentally different from chronic use. Long-term studies often show impairments on cognitive functions, while acute administration most often yields cognitive enhancing effects (Fillmore et al 2006 ; Garavan et al 2008 ; Spronk et al 2013 , 2015 ). Here, we examined reversal learning following the acute administration of cannabis and cocaine, the two most commonly used illicit drugs in Europe (EMCDDA 2014 ).…”

Catecholaminergic modulation of the avoidance of cognitive control

“…In addition, psychostimulants, such as MPH have been shown to enhance cognitive function in healthy volunteers (Linssen, Sambeth, Vuurman, & Riedel, 2014), consistent with their use by students and academics to boost functioning in periods of high cognitive demand (Maher, 2008). Acute administration of a single dose of psychostimulants to healthy volunteers has indeed been shown to improve task switching (Samanez-Larkin & Buckholtz, 2013), extradimensional set-shifting (Rogers et al, 1999), spatial working memory (Elliott et al, 1997), response inhibition (Spronk, Bruijn, Wel, Ramaekers, & Verkes, 2013), distractor-resistant working memory (Fallon et al, 2016) and selective attention . Thus, catecholaminergic drugs can both remedy cognitive control deficits in patients and enhance cognitive control in the healthy population.…”

The effects of heroin administration and drug cues on impulsivity

“…(Verdejo-García et al, 2008; Winstanley et al, 2010). Human clinical studies with alcohol, psychostimulants and marijuana have shown that acute drug administration increases impulsive performance on rapid-decision and continuous performance tasks (Reed et al, 2012; Dougherty et al, 2008; Dougherty et al, 2000; Fillmore & Weafer, 2012; Henges & Marczinksi, 2012; Mulvihill et al, 1997; Reynolds et al, 2006; Spronk et al, 2015; van Wel et al, 2013; Weafer & Fillmore, 2012). …”