“Hot” and “Cold” Cognition in Users of Club Drugs/Novel Psychoactive Substances
Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are popular “club/party” drugs that first attracted attention in the UK in 2009 and remained legal until the 2016 Psychoactive Substances Act criminalized their distribution. Unlike “traditional” illicit drugs, very little is known about the influence of their ana...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.660575/full |
| _version_ | 1818734384747905024 |
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| author | George Savulich George Savulich Owen Bowden-Jones Owen Bowden-Jones Robert Stephenson Annette B. Brühl Karen D. Ersche Karen D. Ersche Trevor W. Robbins Trevor W. Robbins Barbara J. Sahakian Barbara J. Sahakian |
| author_facet | George Savulich George Savulich Owen Bowden-Jones Owen Bowden-Jones Robert Stephenson Annette B. Brühl Karen D. Ersche Karen D. Ersche Trevor W. Robbins Trevor W. Robbins Barbara J. Sahakian Barbara J. Sahakian |
| author_sort | George Savulich |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are popular “club/party” drugs that first attracted attention in the UK in 2009 and remained legal until the 2016 Psychoactive Substances Act criminalized their distribution. Unlike “traditional” illicit drugs, very little is known about the influence of their analogs on neuropsychological functioning. We characterized the cognitive and emotional profile of NPS/polydrug users using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) and EMOTICOM test battery in adult male (aged 20–49 years) recreational users without psychiatric comorbidities (n = 27; “psychonauts”), service users attending a UK specialist “Club Drug” Clinic for problematic use (n = 20) and healthy control volunteers without significant drug-taking histories (n = 35). Tasks were selected to distinguish “hot” cognitive processes that are highly influenced by emotion from “cold” cognitive processes that are largely independent of emotional influence. Both user groups reported significantly higher sensation-seeking traits compared with non-users. Recreational NPS users demonstrated more risk-taking behavior compared with controls and treatment-seeking NPS users showed poorer learning, episodic memory and response inhibition compared with the other two groups. These effects persisted, when controlling for age, intelligence, alcohol and cannabis use severity, nicotine dependence, trait anxiety, depression, childhood adversity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. Overall, recreational NPS users showed elevated “hot” (emotion-laden) cognition in the absence of “cold” (non-emotional) cognitive deficits, whereas “cold” cognitive dysfunction was pronounced in individuals seeking treatment for problematic NPS use. High trait impulsivity and poor self-control may confer additional risk to NPS/polydrug use severity and separate those seeking treatment from those using NPS recreationally. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:04:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-823705e8670e45d5b1a41d926e0f579b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:04:31Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-823705e8670e45d5b1a41d926e0f579b2022-12-21T21:27:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402021-03-011210.3389/fpsyt.2021.660575660575“Hot” and “Cold” Cognition in Users of Club Drugs/Novel Psychoactive SubstancesGeorge Savulich0George Savulich1Owen Bowden-Jones2Owen Bowden-Jones3Robert Stephenson4Annette B. Brühl5Karen D. Ersche6Karen D. Ersche7Trevor W. Robbins8Trevor W. Robbins9Barbara J. Sahakian10Barbara J. Sahakian11Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomBehavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomClub Drug Clinic, Central and North West London National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, London, United KingdomUniversity College London, London, United KingdomEton College, Windsor, United KingdomUniversity Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Basel, Basel, SwitzerlandDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomBehavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomBehavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomDepartment of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomBehavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomNovel psychoactive substances (NPS) are popular “club/party” drugs that first attracted attention in the UK in 2009 and remained legal until the 2016 Psychoactive Substances Act criminalized their distribution. Unlike “traditional” illicit drugs, very little is known about the influence of their analogs on neuropsychological functioning. We characterized the cognitive and emotional profile of NPS/polydrug users using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) and EMOTICOM test battery in adult male (aged 20–49 years) recreational users without psychiatric comorbidities (n = 27; “psychonauts”), service users attending a UK specialist “Club Drug” Clinic for problematic use (n = 20) and healthy control volunteers without significant drug-taking histories (n = 35). Tasks were selected to distinguish “hot” cognitive processes that are highly influenced by emotion from “cold” cognitive processes that are largely independent of emotional influence. Both user groups reported significantly higher sensation-seeking traits compared with non-users. Recreational NPS users demonstrated more risk-taking behavior compared with controls and treatment-seeking NPS users showed poorer learning, episodic memory and response inhibition compared with the other two groups. These effects persisted, when controlling for age, intelligence, alcohol and cannabis use severity, nicotine dependence, trait anxiety, depression, childhood adversity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. Overall, recreational NPS users showed elevated “hot” (emotion-laden) cognition in the absence of “cold” (non-emotional) cognitive deficits, whereas “cold” cognitive dysfunction was pronounced in individuals seeking treatment for problematic NPS use. High trait impulsivity and poor self-control may confer additional risk to NPS/polydrug use severity and separate those seeking treatment from those using NPS recreationally.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.660575/fullnovel psychoactive substanceslegal highsclub drugsneuropsychologydrug addictionemotion |
| spellingShingle | George Savulich George Savulich Owen Bowden-Jones Owen Bowden-Jones Robert Stephenson Annette B. Brühl Karen D. Ersche Karen D. Ersche Trevor W. Robbins Trevor W. Robbins Barbara J. Sahakian Barbara J. Sahakian “Hot” and “Cold” Cognition in Users of Club Drugs/Novel Psychoactive Substances Frontiers in Psychiatry novel psychoactive substances legal highs club drugs neuropsychology drug addiction emotion |
| title | “Hot” and “Cold” Cognition in Users of Club Drugs/Novel Psychoactive Substances |
| title_full | “Hot” and “Cold” Cognition in Users of Club Drugs/Novel Psychoactive Substances |
| title_fullStr | “Hot” and “Cold” Cognition in Users of Club Drugs/Novel Psychoactive Substances |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Hot” and “Cold” Cognition in Users of Club Drugs/Novel Psychoactive Substances |
| title_short | “Hot” and “Cold” Cognition in Users of Club Drugs/Novel Psychoactive Substances |
| title_sort | hot and cold cognition in users of club drugs novel psychoactive substances |
| topic | novel psychoactive substances legal highs club drugs neuropsychology drug addiction emotion |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.660575/full |
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