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Robert Cancro

Publications and source records attributed to Robert Cancro.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Cocaine craving and attentional bias in cocaine-dependent schizophrenic patients.

Cocaine craving has been implicated as a major factor underlying addiction and drug relapse. From a cognitive viewpoint, craving may reflect, in part, attentional processing biased in favor of drug-related cues and stimuli. Schizophrenic individuals (SZ), however, abuse cocaine in high numbers but typically manifest baseline cognitive deficits that impair their ability to selectively allocate their attentional resources. In this study, we examined the relationship between attentional bias and craving in patients with cocaine dependence (COC; n=20), schizophrenic patients comorbid for cocaine dependence (COC+SZ; n=23), as well as two other comparison groups using a modified version of the Stroop test to include cocaine-relevant words. Results revealed that only the COC patients demonstrated Stroop interference on the cocaine-related words. Moreover, COC patients' attentional processing biases were significantly associated with their cocaine craving severity ratings. COC+SZ patients, in contrast, did not demonstrate Stroop interference and manifested significantly fewer craving symptoms than their COC counterparts. These results suggest that COC+SZ patients' inability to selectively encode their drug-use experience may limit and shape their subjective experience of craving cocaine and motivation for cocaine use.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

A molecular basis of the therapeutic and psychoactive properties of cannabis (delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol).

All of the therapeutic properties of marihuana (analgesic, antiemetic, appetite stimulant, antiglaucoma) have been duplicated by the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) molecule or its synthetic derivatives. Today, the molecular mechanisms of action of these compounds have led to a general understanding of the pharmacological effects of marihuana and of its therapeutic properties. These mechanisms involve the specific binding of THC to the 7-transmembrane (7TM) domain G protein-linked receptor, a molecular switch which regulates signal transduction in the cell membrane. The natural ligand of the 7TM receptor is an eicosanoid, arachidonylethanolamide (AEA), generated in the membrane and derived from arachidonic acid. THC acts as a substitute ligand to the 7TM receptor site of AEA. THC would deregulate the physiological function of the 7TM receptor and of its ligand AEA. As a result, the therapeutic effects of the drug may not be separated from its adverse psychoactive and cardiovascular effects. The binding of THC to the 7TM receptor site of AEA induces allosteric changes in the receptor sites of neurotransmitter and opiates resulting in variable interactions and pharmacological responses. The pharmacokinetics of THC with its prolonged storage in fat and its slow release result in variable and delayed pharmacological response, which precludes precise dosing to achieve timely therapeutic effects. The experimental use of THC and of its synthetic analogues, agonists, and antagonists has provided novel information in the nature of molecular signaling in the cell membrane. As a result, the relationships between allosteric receptor responsiveness, molecular configuration of proteins, and physiological regulation of cellular and organ function may be further investigated.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Predictors of aggression on the psychiatric inpatient service.

Patients with severe mental illness are at increased risk to commit acts of aggression in the inpatient hospital setting. Aggressive behaviors have severe negative consequences for the patient, victims, clinical staff, and the therapeutic community as a whole. While risk factors of community and inpatient aggression overlap, many predictive factors diverge between the two settings. For example, while medication noncompliance has been a robust predictor of community aggression, this factor has little predictive value for inpatient settings where patients' pharmacotherapy is closely monitored. Relatively fewer investigators have examined a wide range of predictive factors associated with aggressive acts committed on the psychiatry inpatient service, often with conflicting results. The present study examined demographic, clinical, and neurocognitive performance predictors of self, other, object, and verbal aggressiveness in 118 acute inpatients. Results revealed that the arrival status at the hospital (voluntary vs involuntary), female gender, and substance abuse diagnosis were predictors of verbal aggression and aggression against others. Impaired memory functioning also predicted object aggression. Fewer symptoms, combined with higher cognition functioning, however, were significant predictors of self-aggressive acts committed on the inpatient service. The need for relating predictors of specific types of aggressiveness in schizophrenia is discussed.

Adult↗