About the event
According to the Crime Survey of England and Wales, around 9.2% of the population aged 16–59 reported last-year use of an illicit substance, with around 2.6% reporting regular monthly use. In the 16–24 age group, 18.6% reported last-year substance use. Recreational substance use (of eg cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine) is associated with subjective and objective changes in mood, cognitive function and brain function which persist beyond acute intoxication. Some cognitive functions (eg memory updating) appear to be more affected by substance use, while others remain relatively preserved.
This talk outlines our attempts to systematically investigate the effects of recreational substance use on cognitive function, and the mediating role of various factors (sleep quality, endocrine function, polysubstance use, ecological validity of tasks used). It is clear that there are a number of risk factors and individual differences in pharmacokinetic processing of recreationally used substances which could make use riskier for certain sub-groups of individuals. Combined with issues surrounding purity and strength, it is difficult to predict if an individual may be at risk of substance-related neurocognitive changes, and if these recover with prolonged abstinence. Clear communication about how to reduce risk associated with recreational substance use would feed into harm reduction approaches for these individuals.
Location
About the speaker
Professor Cathy Montgomery, School of Psychology, LJMU.
Cathy Montgomery is a Professor of Psychopharmacology & Health Inequalities and Head of the Institute for Health Research at Liverpool John Moores University. Her research interests lie in the effects of substance use on neurocognition in recreational and dependent substance users, and the recovery of cognitive and neurological function during abstinence. She is particularly interested in using neuroimaging techniques such as functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy to investigate brain indices of impaired cognitive function in substance users. She also works with community substance use treatment providers and NHS substance use services to improve health care and outcomes for people who use drugs.
