New Study: Kids Doing Drugs in College Show Brain Changes, and Sometimes, Damage
Here's a really scary thought. The brains of kids who do drugs in college show damage. According to newswise.com, a new study has found that " impaired neuronal activity in the parts of the brain associated with anticipatory functioning among occasional 18- to 24-year-old users of stimulant drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamines and prescription drugs such as Adderall." Anticipatory functioning are just big words for thinking about something before you do it. The brain differences, detected using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are believed to represent an internal hard wiring that may make some people more prone to drug addiction later in life, the Web site reports. “If you show me 100 college students and tell me which ones have taken stimulants a dozen times, I can tell you those students’ brains are different,” said Martin Paulus, MD, professor of psychiatry and a co-senior author with Angela Yu, PhD, professor of cognitive science at UC San Dieg...