MRI Study Shows Evidence for Long-Term Effects on Brain Volume in Women Following Stimulant Drug Abuse

A study show excessive use of stimulant drugs has long-term effects on the volume of brain tissue in women.

The researchers intended to determine how the brains of men and women, previously dependent on stimulants, differed from the brains of healthy people. They found that even after an average of 13.5 months of abstinence, women who had been dependent on stimulants, such as cocaine or amphetamine, had significantly less gray matter volume in several areas of their brain compared to healthy women. The affected areas of the brain were important for emotions, decision making, reward processing, and formation of habits.

The researchers carried out structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain exams of 127 women, and men. Fifty-nine of the people (28 women and 31 men) had previously been dependent on cocaine, methamphetamine, and/or amphetamines for 15.7 years on average. There were 68 healthy people (28 women and 40 men), with a similar age and gender, without a history of abuse of stimulants. The MRI scans showed that even after 13.5 months, on average, of abstinence from stimulants, there was evidence of a reduction in gray matter volume in frontal, temporal, and limbic areas of the brain.

According to the researchers, the results could help find underlying biological processes during stimulant abuse, and how they are different in men and women.

Senior author of the study, Jody Tanabe, MD, said, “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. Lower gray matter volumes in women who had been stimulant dependent were associated with more impulsivity, greater behavioral approach to reward, and also more severe drug use. In contrast, all men and healthy women did not show such correlations. Compared to men, women tend to begin cocaine or amphetamine use at an earlier age, show accelerated escalation of drug use, report more difficulty quitting and, upon seeking treatment, report using larger quantities of these drugs.”

The study was published online, in the journal Radiology on July 15, 2015.

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