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Biomedical subjects

Lon Hays

Publications and source records attributed to Lon Hays.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Acute effects of oral cocaine on inhibitory control of behavior in humans.

Studies of humans show that individuals with histories of cocaine abuse display reduced inhibitory control over behavioral impulses. The present study tested the effects of oral cocaine on the ability to inhibit behavior in humans. Eight adult volunteers (seven men and one woman) with a history of cocaine abuse participated as in-patient volunteers. Response inhibition and response execution were measured by a stop-signal paradigm using a choice reaction time task that engaged subjects in responding to go-signals when stop-signals occasionally informed them to inhibit the response. Subjects' performance on the task was tested just before and 1 h after a randomized, double-blind administration of 0 mg (placebo), 50, 100, and 150 mg of oral cocaine HCl. Cocaine reduced subjects' ability to inhibit responses to stop-signals. By contrast, no effect of cocaine was observed on the ability to execute responses in terms of their speed and accuracy. Subjective and physiological effects of cocaine were also observed. Together, the findings indicate that acute administration of cocaine can impair the ability to inhibit behavioral responses at doses that do not affect the ability to respond. These findings are important because they identify a specific disinhibiting effect of cocaine that could help explain the documented association between long-term cocaine use and poor impulse control.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed2002

Developing, implementing, and evaluating a treatment protocol for rural substance abusers.

Substance abuse is a significant social and public health problem facing rural Americans. However, most treatment protocols have been developed in urban areas. This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative substance abuse treatment designed with the collaboration of rural professionals and consumers specifically for rural clients and delivered by rural clinicians. Results of the process evaluation of Structured Behavioral Outpatient Rural Therapy (SBORT) produced findings about the experiences of participating clients, clinicians, and program directors. Most clients perceived SBORT as a helpful learning process that used multiple treatment strategies and presented an alternative to 12-step programs. Clients also reported that treatment was stressful even when beneficial, and that clinician support was critical for remaining in treatment. Most clinicians found that SBORT challenged their "old" treatment frameworks, was demanding to learn and adopt, and that the training and supervision involved in the project implementation helped remedy rural isolation from the treatment community. Interestingly, agency approach to program implementation strongly influenced clinician responses to the innovation. Agency program directors' appraisals of SBORT included observations that the therapy was viable because of its rural-specific design and that most staff were able to adapt to the changes demanded by the manualized protocol. All three groups reported that they saw the emphasis and acceptance of motivation as an emergent process as important to the treatment. This project highlighted the challenge and importance of testing rural substance abuse treatment protocols in naturalistic settings.

Behavior Therapy↗