Drug Abuse Could Lead to Loss of Gray Matter

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Scientist at the University Of Colorado School of Medicine discovered that stimulant drugs have a more profound effect on women’s brain volume than in men.

Recent reports show that since 2008 the use of recreational drugs by Latino teenagers has been on the rise.

The study,  published in the journal Radiology, analyzed structural brain MRI exams in 127 men and women; 59 people (28 women and 31 men) who previously had an addiction to cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamine, revealed that women who were previously drug abusers showed significant loss of gray matter.

“While the women previously dependent on stimulants demonstrated widespread brain differences when compared to their healthy control counterparts, the men demonstrated no significant brain differences,” Jody Tanabe, MD lead researcher said in a news release.

Drug abuse in women, according to researches changed brain structures that are essential for habit formation, reward-processing, decision making and emotion.

“The gray matter volumes in women who had been stimulant dependent correlated with more impulsivity, greater behavioral tendencies to approach to reward, and also more severe drug use,” Tanabe said. “In contrast, all men and healthy women did not show such correlations.”