Research has shown that former opiate addicts that have been treated with methadone, and thereafter systematically taken off the methadone treatment, show decreases in brain function and abnormal pain thresholds.1
A recent study tested the mental acuity of former opiate-dependent subjects before and after being exposed to a treatment that caused pain. The subjects were treated with a heat stimulus at their pain threshold. Their mental acuity was tested with a Stroop test. In this test you are instructed to name the colour that a word has been written in, when the word itself describes a colour (see image right).
Control subjects performed better than former opiate-dependent subjects in the Stroop test, when no pain was experienced. (Controls were never opiate-dependent and weren't exposed to methadone treatment either. ) In general, females performed better than males under these conditions. However, under painful conditions, male former opiate-dependent individuals showed a greater improvement in Stroop test scores than male control subjects or females of either group.
Therefore previous opiate dependence affects brain function, with males seemingly being more affected than females. However, response to pain is also altered, with males who were previously opiate dependent showing greater improvements in Stroop scores than females and control subjects.
A recent study tested the mental acuity of former opiate-dependent subjects before and after being exposed to a treatment that caused pain. The subjects were treated with a heat stimulus at their pain threshold. Their mental acuity was tested with a Stroop test. In this test you are instructed to name the colour that a word has been written in, when the word itself describes a colour (see image right).Control subjects performed better than former opiate-dependent subjects in the Stroop test, when no pain was experienced. (Controls were never opiate-dependent and weren't exposed to methadone treatment either. ) In general, females performed better than males under these conditions. However, under painful conditions, male former opiate-dependent individuals showed a greater improvement in Stroop test scores than male control subjects or females of either group.
Therefore previous opiate dependence affects brain function, with males seemingly being more affected than females. However, response to pain is also altered, with males who were previously opiate dependent showing greater improvements in Stroop scores than females and control subjects.
1Aniskin DB, MD; Fink E, MD; Prosser J, MD; Cohen LJ, PhD; Boda N, MD; Steinfeld M, MS; Galynker II, MD, PhD. The Effect of Pain on Stroop Performance in Patients With Opiate Dependence in Sustained Remission. Journal of Addiction Medicine doi: 10.1097/ADM.0b013e3181d77c07
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