Effects Of Cocaine On Your Brain: Does Cocaine Kill Brain Cells?

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HealthlineSubscribeDoes Using Cocaine Kill Brain Cells?

Medically reviewed by Dena Westphalen, PharmD — Written by Kathryn Watson — Updated on February 17, 2020

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Causes
Recovery
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Outlook
Bottom line

Cocaine, whether in powder or crack form, has a powerful effect on the body and the brain. Using cocaine can damage brain cells, even after a few times of heavy use.

Keep reading to understand how cocaine can trigger brain damage and its other serious side effects.

How does cocaine affect your brain?

Cocaine is a stimulant. That means it affects the central nervous system. Like other stimulants, cocaine gives you an energy surge. That in turn boosts your alertness, leaving you feeling a “high” from the drug.

Other common, short-term effects of cocaine include:

a feeling of “jitters” or restlessness
irritability
paranoia
decreased appetite
a temporary feeling of intense happiness or pleasure

long-term effects of using cocaine
Cocaine can have long-term side effects, too, especially after prolonged, habitual use. Long-term ways cocaine can affect the brain include:
headaches
extreme weight loss
loss of smell/olfactory function
mood swings
seizures
movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease
severe paranoia
auditory hallucinations
irregular heartbeat
death by overdose

Most short-term side effects of cocaine wear off within a day or two. But long term side-effects can be permanent.

Sometimes, the long-term side effects of cocaine use are a sign of brain damage.

Why does cocaine specifically affect your brain?

Cocaine increases the amount of a chemical called dopamine in your brain. Dopamine naturally occurs in your brain. Small doses of dopamine travel through your brain cells to indicate pleasure or satisfaction.

When you’re using cocaine, dopamine floods your brain cells, but then it doesn’t have anywhere else to go. This excess dopamine blocks your brain cells from communicating with one another.

Over time, cocaine causes your brain to becomes less sensitive to dopamine. That means larger amounts of cocaine are necessary to produce the same effects of a dopamine high.

Over time, flooding your brain with dopamine can damage the structure of the brain. That’s why heavy cocaine use can lead to seizure disorders and other neurological conditions.

Cocaine use slows the glucose metabolism in your brain as well. That can cause the neurons in your brain to work more slowly or begin to die off.

A 2016 study in the brains of mice gave more insight into this phenomenon. When the brain’s “cleanup processes” are sped up or disrupted from cocaine, brain cells are essentially thrown out.

Cocaine damages your brain in other ways, too. Since cocaine causes your blood vessels to narrow, your heart has to work harder to pump blood to your brain.

This stresses your cardiovascular system. It can cause your heart rate to fall out of rhythm. It can also starve your brain of the blood it needs, which kills brain cells.

The impact of cocaine on your brain cells becomes even more significant as you age.

The typical brain loses 1.69 milliliters of gray matter each year as part of the aging process. People who regularly use cocaine lose more than twice that in a year, according to a 2012 study.

Cocaine use in young adults also changes the shape of neurons and synapses as the developing brain tries to protect itself, according to research from 2009.

Does the brain recover from the effects of cocaine use?

Your brain may be able to recover from the effects of cocaine use.

The amount of normal cognition you regain will vary depending on several factors, like:

how long you used cocaine
how much you used each time
your individual brain chemistry

A small 2014 study found that as long as cocaine use was moderate and recovery began within 1 year, brain damage from cocaine use was at least partially reversible.

And a 2014 review suggests many of the long-term cognitive effects of cocaine use are actually connected to withdrawal from cocaine. This seemed to imply that 5 months without cocaine would restore much of what was lost in terms of brain function.

There are different treatment options available for people who need help stopping cocaine use.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, outpatient and inpatient treatment, drug-free communities, and 12-step programs (such as Cocaine Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous) are all options.

There’s currently no medication that treats cocaine addiction, but sometimes doctors prescribe drugs off-label to treat it. Disulfiram (Antabuse) is one such medication.

How do doctors diagnose cocaine addiction?

If you reach out to your doctor about your cocaine use, they will start by asking you questions about your lifestyle, habits, usage, and dosage. It’s important to be straightforward and honest so you can get the right treatment.

Sometimes a health event, such as a seizure or stroke, will prompt a doctor to bring up the possibility of cocaine addiction to you if you also have other symptoms.

You doctor may use a drug test to confirm cocaine use. A urine drug test may only test positive for cocaine for about 4 days after last use. But the longer you’ve been using cocaine, the more it can accumulate in your body, and the longer it takes to metabolize.

If a health event prompted your visit to your doctor, they’ll recommend treatment options and help supervise your withdrawal once you’re stable.

Cocaine withdrawal should always be supervised by a medical professional.

where to find help
You don’t have to manage your addiction alone. Use these free and confidential resources to get support:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Helpline: 800-662-HELP (4357)
National Drug Helpline: (844) 289-0879
If you believe you or someone with you may be experiencing a cocaine overdose, call 911 immediately.

What’s the outlook?

It may seem impossible at times, but you can completely recover from your cocaine addiction.

It’s also possible to recover some of the impaired cognitive function from cocaine use.

We don’t completely understand who can regain that function, why, and to what extent. More studies are needed to know what the best practices are for restoring neurological stability after consistent cocaine use.

The bottom line

It’s not just an urban legend meant to scare away potential users. Heavy and prolonged cocaine use can damage your brain cells.

Repeated cocaine use disrupts the way your brain cells communicate, causing neurons to die off. It can also damage other vital organs, including your cardiovascular system.

It may be possible for some people to restore their brain function to what it was before cocaine. Researchers are still working to fully understand this.

If you or a loved one is using cocaine or misusing other substances, reach out to a healthcare provider for help.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Bellum S. (2012). Cocaine and the developing brain.https://teens.drugabuse.gov/blog/post/cocaine-teen-brain
Cocaine. (2019).https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/stimulants
Cocaine: Drug facts. (2018).https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/cocaine
Ersche KD, et al. (2012). Cocaine dependence: A fast-track for brain ageing? DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2012.31
Gourley SL, et al. (2009). Loss of dendrite stabilization by the Abl-related gene (Arg) kinase regulates behavioral flexibility and sensitivity to cocaine. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0902286106
Guha P, et al. (2016). Cocaine elicits autophagic cytotoxicity via a nitric oxide-GAPDH signaling cascade. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1524860113
Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2016). New evidence in mice that cocaine makes brain cells cannibalize themselves [Press release].https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_evidence_in_mice_that_cocaine_makes_brain_cells_cannibalize_themselves
Lane SD, et al. (2010). Diffusion tensor imaging and decision making in cocaine dependence. DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0011591
Muñoz-Cuevas FJ, et al. (2013). Cocaine-induced structural plasticity in frontal cortex correlates with conditioned place preference. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3498
Nestler EJ. (2005). The neurobiology of cocaine addiction.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2851032/
Potvin S, et al. (2014). Cocaine and cognition: A systematic quantitative review. DOI:https://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/Abstract/2014/09000/Cocaine_and_Cognition___A_Systematic_Quantitative.10.aspx
Study ranks recovery assets in cocaine addiction. (2015).https://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/nida-notes/2015/07/study-ranks-recovery-assets-in-cocaine-addiction
Vonmoos M, et al. (2014). Cognitive impairment in cocaine users is drug-induced but partially reversible: Evidence from a longitudinal study. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2014.71

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Medically reviewed by Dena Westphalen, PharmD — Written by Kathryn Watson — Updated on February 17, 2020

Effects Of Cocaine On Your Brain: Does Cocaine Kill Brain Cells?

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How does cocaine affect your brain?

Why does cocaine specifically affect your brain?

Does the brain recover from the effects of cocaine use?

How do doctors diagnose cocaine addiction?

What’s the outlook?

The bottom line

How we reviewed this article:

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