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. 2009 Jun 25;4(6):e6043.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006043.

Reduced attentional scope in cocaine polydrug users

Lorenza S Colzato  1 , Wery P M van den Wildenberg, Bernhard Hommel
Affiliations

Reduced attentional scope in cocaine polydrug users

Lorenza S Colzato et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Cocaine is Europe's second preferred recreational drug after cannabis but very little is known about possible cognitive impairments in the upcoming type of recreational cocaine user (monthly consumption). We asked whether recreational use of cocaine impacts early attentional selection processes. Cocaine-free polydrug controls (n = 18) and cocaine polydrug users (n = 18) were matched on sex, age, alcohol consumption, and IQ (using the Raven's progressive matrices), and were tested by using the Global-Local task to measure the scope of attention. Cocaine polydrug users attended significantly more to local aspects of attended events, which fits with the idea that a reduced scope of attention may be associated with the perpetuation of the use of the drug.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Mean Global Precedence effect for Cocaine Polydrug Users and Cocaine-free Polydrug Controls.
Vertical capped lines atop bars indicate standard error of the mean.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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