Cocaine Interferes with Perception, Who Knew!

In a recent study conducted in the Netherlands and Germany, researchers headed by Dr. Kim Kupyer's took 24 University students between the age of 19 and 27 that all partake in light to moderate use of Cocaine and gave some 300mg of the substance orally and others a placebo. after about 1 to 2 hours after the initial digestion, they tested the subjects with biochemical tests and facial recognition ones that measured the response of fear, sadness, happiness, and anger. The students that were given Cocaine had the usually affects, increased heart rate and the releasing of the stress inducing chemical Cortisol. What the researchers also found out was that these effected test subjects had a hard time recognizing negative emotions. The Cocaine subjects scored about 10% lower then the subjects that took the placebo in recognizing sadness and anger. Dr. Kim Kupyer's stated that this may be the reason that Cocaine users report higher levels of sociability then non-users. simply because they cannot recognize negative emotions.This research was reported at the ECNP (Europe's College of Neuropsychopharmacology) conference in Amsterdam this August.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150830152605.htm