Drug abusers show impaired performance in a laboratory test of decision making

A defining feature of drun addiction is persistent drug use despite long-te rm adverse consequences. This study examined the performance of drug abuser s on a neuropsychological test that requires evaluation of long-term outcom es in the presence of a complex set of mixed reward/punishment contingencie s (the Gambling Task). In order to control for generalized deficits related to choice and planning, subjects were also administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task. Thirty polysubstance abusers were compared to a comparison g roup of 24 subjects who did not use illicit drugs of abuse. Drug abusers pe rformed much mure poorly on the Gambling Task (net score = 10.2+/-4.7, mean +/- s.e.m.) than controls (26.0 +/- 5.3), but did not differ from controls on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task. The results show that drug abusers are mon likely to make maladaptive decisions in the Gambling Task that result in long-term losses exceeding short-term gains. These findings indicate tha t the Gambling Task may be a useful model in laboratory studies of cognitiv e dysfunctions associated with drug abuse. Published by Elsevier Science Lt d.