Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
ARTICLE, Behavioral/Systems

Loss of Dopamine Transporters in Methamphetamine Abusers Recovers with Protracted Abstinence

Nora D. Volkow, Linda Chang, Gene-Jack Wang, Joanna S. Fowler, Dinko Franceschi, Mark Sedler, Samuel J. Gatley, Eric Miller, Robert Hitzemann, Yu-Shin Ding and Jean Logan
Journal of Neuroscience 1 December 2001, 21 (23) 9414-9418; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-23-09414.2001
Nora D. Volkow
1Medical and
3Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Linda Chang
1Medical and
3Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Gene-Jack Wang
1Medical and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Joanna S. Fowler
2Chemistry Departments, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973,
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Dinko Franceschi
1Medical and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mark Sedler
3Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Samuel J. Gatley
1Medical and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Eric Miller
4Department of Psychiatry, Harbor–University of California, Los Angeles, Torrance, California 90502
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Robert Hitzemann
3Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Yu-Shin Ding
1Medical and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jean Logan
1Medical and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Methamphetamine is a popular drug of abuse that is neurotoxic to dopamine (DA) terminals when administered to laboratory animals. Studies in methamphetamine abusers have also documented significant loss of DA transporters (used as markers of the DA terminal) that are associated with slower motor function and decreased memory. The extent to which the loss of DA transporters predisposes methamphetamine abusers to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsonism is unclear and may depend in part on the degree of recovery. Here we assessed the effects of protracted abstinence on the loss of DA transporters in striatum, in methamphetamine abusers using positron emission tomography and [11C]d-threo-methylphenidate (DA transporter radioligand). Brain DA transporters in five methamphetamine abusers evaluated during short abstinence (<6 months) and then retested during protracted abstinence (12–17 months) showed significant increases with protracted abstinence (caudate, +19%; putamen, +16%). Although performance in some of the tests for which we observed an association with DA transporters showed some improvement, this effect was not significant. The DA transporter increases with abstinence could indicate that methamphetamine-induced DA transporter loss reflects temporary adaptive changes (i.e., downregulation), that the loss reflects DA terminal damage but that terminals can recover, or that remaining viable terminals increase synaptic arborization. Because neuropsychological tests did not improve to the same extent, this suggests that the increase of the DA transporters was not sufficient for complete function recovery. These findings have treatment implications because they suggest that protracted abstinence may reverse some of methamphetamine-induced alterations in brain DA terminals.

  • methamphetamine
  • dopamine transporters
  • imaging
  • positron emission tomography
  • addiction
  • detoxification
  • neurotoxicity
  • dopamine terminal
View Full Text
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 21 (23)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 21, Issue 23
1 Dec 2001
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Loss of Dopamine Transporters in Methamphetamine Abusers Recovers with Protracted Abstinence
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Loss of Dopamine Transporters in Methamphetamine Abusers Recovers with Protracted Abstinence
Nora D. Volkow, Linda Chang, Gene-Jack Wang, Joanna S. Fowler, Dinko Franceschi, Mark Sedler, Samuel J. Gatley, Eric Miller, Robert Hitzemann, Yu-Shin Ding, Jean Logan
Journal of Neuroscience 1 December 2001, 21 (23) 9414-9418; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-23-09414.2001

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Loss of Dopamine Transporters in Methamphetamine Abusers Recovers with Protracted Abstinence
Nora D. Volkow, Linda Chang, Gene-Jack Wang, Joanna S. Fowler, Dinko Franceschi, Mark Sedler, Samuel J. Gatley, Eric Miller, Robert Hitzemann, Yu-Shin Ding, Jean Logan
Journal of Neuroscience 1 December 2001, 21 (23) 9414-9418; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-23-09414.2001
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • MATERIALS AND METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • Footnotes
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Keywords

  • methamphetamine
  • dopamine transporters
  • imaging
  • positron emission tomography
  • addiction
  • detoxification
  • neurotoxicity
  • dopamine terminal

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

ARTICLE

  • Intracranially Administered Anti-Αβ Antibodies Reduce β-Amyloid Deposition by Mechanisms Both Independent of and Associated with Microglial Activation
  • Neural Correlates of Competing Fear Behaviors Evoked by an Innately Aversive Stimulus
  • Distinct Developmental Modes and Lesion-Induced Reactions of Dendrites of Two Classes of Drosophila Sensory Neurons
Show more ARTICLE

Behavioral/Systems

  • Enhancement of Signal-to-Noise Ratio and Phase Locking for Small Inputs by a Low-Threshold Outward Current in Auditory Neurons
  • Inhibition of cAMP Response Element-Binding Protein or Dynorphin in the Nucleus Accumbens Produces an Antidepressant-Like Effect
  • Sensitivity to Instrumental Contingency Degradation Is Mediated by the Entorhinal Cortex and Its Efferents via the Dorsal Hippocampus
Show more Behavioral/Systems
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Follow SFN on BlueSky
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Notice
  • Contact
  • Accessibility
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2025 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.