Spanish study shows drugs' effect on cognition

As well as having adverse effects on people's physical health drug abuse can also affect people's cognition, including their ability to recognise emotions in other people. Researchers from the University of Granada in Spain compared 123 drug users with 67 non users on a variety of different tests. 70% of the drug users showed some type of neuropsychological deterioration, regardless of the type of substance consumed. The study showed deterioration in the drug users' working memory, fluency, flexibility, planning and multitasking abilities. The study also found that drug users had difficulty in recognising negative emotions such as anger, disgust, fear and sadness.