FIGURE 9.5 • Long-Term Methamphetamine Use: Reversible and Irreversible Brain Damage (a) This scan shows the distribution of dopamine transporters in a normal brain. (b) This scan shows the brain of a person who had used methamphetamine over a period of years; as is evident, even 1 month after this person stopped using the drug, the dopamine transporters are still in short supply. (c) This scan shows the brain of the same abuser more than a year after stopping the use of methamphetamine; although there is some recovery of function, the effects of chronic abuse are not completely reversed.

Source: Nora D. Volkow et al., The Journal of Neuroscience, December 1, 2001, 21(23):9414–9418.