DECREASED VISUAL P3 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL FOR DRUG CUES IN THE RIGHT DORSOLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX OF CRACK-COCAINE USERS

This was an exploratory open trial in which young crack-cocaine-users and non-users were clinically examined. The participant's right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity was analysed by an event-related potentials procedure under a cue-reactivity paradigm. The patients group exhibited lower frontal executive scores. Accordingly, they exhibited lower right DLPFC activity for crack cues when compared with neutral cues while healthy subjects exhibited the opposite effect. Considering that the right DLPFC has an important role in executive functions, which is usually impaired in drug addicts, we suggest that any intervention that can improve its activity may have beneficial effects in drug dependence treatment.