Neurophysiology of attention (P300) in smoked cocaine dependents with and without ADHD comorbidity

OBERTI DE LUCA, SOFÍA MILAGROS; ARAGÓN-DAUD, AGUSTINA; ALETHIA DE LA FUENTE, LAURA

Congreso; Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de investigación en Neurociencias; 2022

Sociedad Argentina de investigación en Neurociencias

ABSTRACTDuring adolescence, the brain areas responsible for executive functions, attention and behavior control are still maturing. This predisposes to greater vulnerability to transition from experimental substance use to addiction, and has been proposed this may be enhanced by attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comorbidity. Our previous results showed that the early use of smokeable cocaine (SC) is associated with deficits in executive functions and attention related to disrupted striatal-frontal connectivity. At the neurophysiological level, children diagnosed with ADHD present an attenuated P300 to attentional demands, a response consistent with clinically observed inattention. Moreover, no experimental online tasks have been assessed in SCD with and without ADHD.The objective of this study is assess the relation between attention and SC dependence developed over adolescence in 20 SC dependence with comorbidity with ADHD (SCD+ADHD), 20 without ADHD (SCD); and 20 healthy controls (CTR) matched by age, years of education, gender, educational level, and socioeconomic status. All consumers had age onsets of consumption between 14 and 16 years old. We used the Global Local auditory task and measured modulations of the P-300 potential. We hypothesize that during the active task there will be significant differences in P-300 between SCD-ADHD and CTR, and between consumption groups, with SCD-ADHD showing a significantly reduced amplitude compared with SCD and CTR. These results will allow expanding knowledge about risk factors for substance use present in development to be used in early detection of problematic use in adolescents. Also, it contributes to the understanding of the neurophysiological bases that underlie the clinical manifestations of SCD and inform the complexity of their rehabilitation.