Scientists still know little about how opioid overdoses affect the brain and cognition. Researchers found that, while evidence exists to support a link between overdose, cognitive impairment and brain abnormalities, more research is needed in this area.

To better understand the topic, Erin Winstanley and James Mahoney — researchers with the West Virginia University School of Medicine and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute — reviewed 79 studies of neurocognitive impairments and brain abnormalities associated with nonfatal opioid overdoses in humans. The studies all had limitations, a sign that more precise research is needed in this area. Yet despite the studies’ shortcomings, their findings still suggested that brain abnormalities and cognitive impairments are linked to overdose.

«I think there’s probably a host of morbidities associated with experiencing a nonfatal opioid-related overdose that’s largely neglected in the published literature and — to a certain extent — from a public health standpoint,» said Winstanley, an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry and the Department of Neuroscience. «We should first focus on saving lives. That’s definitely the appropriate step. But we probably should start paying attention to some of these other issues, too. Given the proportion of people who have experienced a nonfatal overdose, the number of deaths is just the tip of the iceberg.»

Their findings appear in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Winstanley, Mahoney and their colleagues — Felipe Castillo and Sandra Comer of Columbia University — performed a systematic review of journal articles published between 1973 and 2020.

Overall, the studies lacked the level of detail and consistency that would have made many direct comparisons and inferences possible.

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