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Review
. 2024 Feb 22:15:1357422.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1357422. eCollection 2024.

Neurovascular effects of cocaine: relevance to addiction

Kevin Clare  1   2 , Kicheon Park  2 , Yingtian Pan  2 , Carl W Lejuez  3 , Nora D Volkow  4 , Congwu Du  2
Affiliations
Review

Neurovascular effects of cocaine: relevance to addiction

Kevin Clare et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Cocaine is a highly addictive drug, and its use is associated with adverse medical consequences such as cerebrovascular accidents that result in debilitating neurological complications. Indeed, brain imaging studies have reported severe reductions in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in cocaine misusers when compared to the brains of healthy non-drug using controls. Such CBF deficits are likely to disrupt neuro-vascular interaction and contribute to changes in brain function. This review aims to provide an overview of cocaine-induced CBF changes and its implication to brain function and to cocaine addiction, including its effects on tissue metabolism and neuronal activity. Finally, we discuss implications for future research, including targeted pharmacological interventions and neuromodulation to limit cocaine use and mitigate the negative impacts.

Keywords: addiction; cerebral blood flow (CBF); cocaine; neuroimaging; neurovascular coupling (NVC).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Cocaine-induced cerebral blood flow decrease associated with brain dysfunction from neurovascular imaging to human addictive behavior.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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