A lot of studies were directed to explore the relation between drug abuse and neuropsychological functions. Some studies reported that even after a long duration of disappearance of withdrawal or intoxication symptoms, many patients have obvious deterioration of cognitive functions. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the substance use disorders and the executive functions.
The study showed that the group of drug-dependent subjects performed significantly worse than the comparison group on all measures Also, there were significant differences among the subgroups as the alcoholic group was much worse followed by the amphetamine then the opioids groups. Patients with longer duration of dependence and multiple hospital readmissions were much worse in comparison to patients with shorter duration of dependence and less readmission.
The study confirmed that the functions of specific brain regions underlying cognitive control are significantly impaired in patients of drug addiction. This impairment was significantly related to type of substance, duration of use and number of hospitalization and may contribute to most of behavioral disturbances found in addicts and need much attention during tailoring of treatment programs.
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