Brain ageing hastened by cocaine addiction: Study

Now, scientists from Germany and Canada have shown that in humans, cocaine use disorder (CUD) leads to changes in the ‘methylome’ of a subregion within the prefrontal cortex, Brodmann Area 9, thought to be important for self-awareness and inhibitory control. Typically, a greater degree of DNA methylation leads to the ‘dialing down’ of nearby genes.

Because the study of the brain methylome is invasive, the study was done on the cryo-preserved brains of 42 deceased male donors, of whom half had had CUD while the other half had not. The researchers found evidence that cells in Brodmann Area 9 appear biologically ‘older’ in people with CUD, evidence that these cells age faster than in people without substance use disorders. Here, they used patterns of DNA methylation as a measure of the biological age of cells in Brodmann Area 9. The biological age of cells, tissues, and organs can be greater or less than their chronological age, depending on diet, lifestyle, and exposure to disease or harmful environmental factors. Scientists can thus estimate the biological age from methylome data with established mathematical algorithms.