What neuropsychological effects does drug consumption involve? Whay kind of personality disorders? Does addiction influence social adaptation? Are these problems reversible? These questions are being analysed by the research group of the University of Granada directed by Professor Miguel Pérez García. To that end, a new research line has been opened, consisting of analysing the neuropsychological effects at the sime time that the emotional ones, product of the prolonged consumption of every sort of drugs.
Many of the scientific results of this team of the Faculty of Psychology are coming out these days in articles of international scientific journals. The first of them is a theoretical review which has been useful to carry out later experimental research works. This article of the journal Neuropsychology Review starts from the theory that neuropsychological abilities are affected by drugs in habitual drug takers.
For example, attention and short-term memory alterations are very marked in hash users. However, they do not usually suffer serious psychiatric problems, whereas with stimulating other drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy, ther can be psychotic symptoms. In prolonged opiate users, such as heroin, serious abstract reasoning problema can be observed.
The studies are carried out with addicts or ex addicts to all kind of drugs, except for alcohol, integrated in rehabilitation programs of the centres Proyecto Hombre and Cortijo Buenos Aires, a public centre for drug taker rehabilitation, directed by Francisco Aguilar de Arcos.
Myopia to the future
Making the most of the rehabilitation context, they study the relation betwenn drug consumption and abnormal emotional states, such as listlessness or general apathy and defects in decision-making. Thus, with tasks designed in the University of Iowa (United States), a myopia to the future has been observed in some drug addicts. That is to say, a boundless trend to choose the most advantageous option in the short term, even if it is dangerous in the long run. Exactly the antithesis of a depressive´s behaviour, who usually back out faced with the tiniest problem, besides blaming themselves for everything.
Reference: Prof. Miguel Pérez García.
Phone number: 958242948 – 677 023955.
E-mail: mperezg@ugr.es
