Arizona Cocaine Addiction - Cocaine Addicts Show Disconnect Between Behavior and Brain

Arizona Cocaine Addiction - The portions of the brain responsible for monitoring emotions and behaviors display different activity levels in cocaine users compared to non-drug users.

These results were discovered by the Brookhaven Institute by using brain-imaging technology. The existence of these impairments in the brain may explain vulnerability to addiction.

Researchers theorize that treatments geared at correcting these impaired functions may help cocaine addicts resist the drug. They are unsure whether the impairments are an antecedent or a consequence of drug use.

According to psychologist Rita Goldstein, the study found "dramatic differences in the brain regions that play a very significant role in the ability to monitor behavior and regulate emotion, which are both important to resisting drug use."