SOME BRAIN RECOVERY POSSIBLE AFTER METH USE

Partial brain recovery found in former users of methamphetamine

DAVIS, CALIF. -- Partial brain region recovery may be possible in former
methamphetamine users, according to preliminary findings of a study
published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Researchers at the University of California here have found evidence to
suggest adaptive changes in chemical activity in certain regions of the
brain of former long-term methamphetamine users suggest some recovery from
abnormalities in brain regions associated with selective attention and
memory.

Lead researcher Dr. Thomas Nordahl said his findings send a positive message
to former methamphetamine users about the value of quitting.

"I've had people ask me, 'What is the value, what's the point if I stay off
drugs? I've already damaged my brain.' And I think one point you can make is
that there might be some regeneration," Dr. Nordahl said. "There may be some
natural processes that give some healing to what you did.

"I have to emphasize 'some.'"

For the study, Dr. Nordahl and colleagues compared eight methamphetamine
users who had not used the drug for one to five years and 16 recently
abstinent methamphetamine users who had used the drug for one to six months
with 13 healthy controls. All patients underwent proton magnetic resonance
spectroscopy (MRS) brain imaging to visual biochemical markers that are
linked to damage and recovery of neurons in the brain.

The researchers measured levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), which is present
only in neurons, as a marker of the amount of damage or neuronal loss. As
well, they measured choline, which is required for the creation of new
membranes, and may be "an ideal marker" to track changes consistent with
neuronal recovery.

Unfortunately, abnormally low levels of NAA were found in all
methamphetamine users, and these did not change relative to the amount of
time the methamphetamine users had been abstinent. However, elevated choline
levels were found in the methamphetamine users who had not used the drug for
one to six months. In longer abstainers, these choline levels were
normalized.

The normalization of choline levels suggest when methamphetamine use is
terminated, adaptive changes occur, which may contribute to some degree of
normalization of neuronal structure and function, researchers say.

Despite these findings, further longitudinal studies are required to
understand the underlying physiological changes of stimulant drugs on the
brain, Dr. Nordahl said.

"Ultimately, we'll have to follow these people, if they'll allow us, to
death, and do pathology then and see how that corresponds to what we've been
seeing in imaging data."