Study: Cocaine stops you recognising other people's emotions

[Recursion]

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/26151/1/cocaine-stops-you-recognising-other-people-s-emotions

Very interesting study. Emphases below mine.

According to new research, the drug can damage social awareness, and can stop users from being able to process negative feelings such as anger, irritation or sadness. So, in other words, the reason you think you're so confident and social when you're high is because you just aren't able to process how annoyed everyone is with you.

"This is the first study to look at the short-term effect of cocaine on emotions," said Dr Kim Kuypers, the project's lead researcher. "It shows that a single dose of cocaine interferes with a person's ability to recognise negative emotions, such as anger and sadness. This might hinder the ability to interact in social situations, but it may also help explain why cocaine-users report higher levels of sociability when intoxicated – simply because they can't recognise the negative emotions."

The study, which took place at the Netherland's Maastricht University, started by giving 24 students either 300mg of the drug or a placebo. Each participant was then put through a facial emotion recognition test, and those who had been given the cocaine fared ten per cent worse than their placebo-ed counterparts. They were also found with increased heart rate and significantly higher levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.

The controversial discovery has opened up a larger debate on the long-term effects of cocaine on mental health. "There are many mental illnesses in which our brains' ability to recognise the emotions of others are impaired and this new study shows that cocaine may interfere with this process too," commented UCL professer Dr Michael Bloomfield after seeing the results. "Since cocaine changes the level of the brain chemical dopamine, this new study may have implications for other mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia – where dopamine may also be involved in how we recognise emotions."

1. 300 mg is a pretty big line.

2. "increased heart rate" -- ya think?

3. I expect Maastricht University enrollments to go way, way up next year.

4. I really like the study author's idea that coming down may be more difficult because others' emotions seem more negative.

[pnwmom]

1. Okay, that explains it. Trump is a coke addict.

In addition to being a pathological narcissist.

[Aerows]

5. First thought

that popped into my mind!

[jaysunb]

2. "schizophrenia" ?? duh ?? n/t

[zazen]

3. I think this relates to theory underlying sociopathy--more dopamine means less fear

and lack of awareness of the effect of one's actions on others. At least that's one factor that has been floated.

Frankly, I think it also relates to the famous "glib superficial charm" of sociopaths/subclinical sociopaths. It's not always calculated. I think because they lack normal social fear and awareness they take a lot more joy in everyday things, so they can be magnetic to people who are more restrained and sensitive about life due to walking around with more fear/activated amygala, etc.

[snooper2]

4. "I can't feel my face, I mean, I can touch it, but I can't- feel it inside"

LOL

Almost miss the days when go to the bar and do a couple bumps in the bathroom, fun drug

[Eleanors38]

6. Jesus, where did they find an adequate control group?