Vaporized Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol exposure in utero has negative effects on attention in a dose- and sex-dependent manner.
Samantha L Penman, Nicole M Roeder, Jia Wang, Brittany J Richardson, Lily Freeman-Striegel, Alexis Krayevsky, Rina D Eiden, Saptarshi Chakraborty, Panayotis K Thanos
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior September 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2024.173808 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Pregnant rats and their offspring |
| Intervention | vaporized THC |
| Dose | 10 mg or 40 mg |
| Duration | Daily from gestational day 2 until labor, with testing in early and late adolescence |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Attention Cognition Memory Prenatal Vapor inhalation |
| Citations | 9 |
| Key findings | Prenatal vaporized THC exposure led to decreased attention in offspring, with females more affected, and did not impair ultimate memory performance. |
Abstract
There has been an increasing use of cannabis during pregnancy in recent years. Studies have indicated that THC exposure in utero may increase the risk of attention deficits and memory impairments in adolescence. The goal of the present study is to investigate the effects of vaporized THC exposure during pregnancy on offspring memory and attention performance in early and late adolescence. Pregnant dams were exposed to vaporized THC (10 mg or 40 mg) daily from gestational day 2 until labor. Pups were given either a standard or a high-fat diet at weaning and tested in early and late adolescence in two memory tests, the Novel Object Recognition (NOR) test and the Morris Water Maze (MWM) test, and a test of attention, the Object-Based Attention (OBA) test. Rats exposed to low-dose THC showed significantly decreased object exploration in both the NOR and OBA tests, indicating decreased attention. Object exploration time in OBA was significantly lower in females than males. Additionally, post hoc analysis of MWM tests showed some differences in learning patterns for HD THC offspring in early adolescence, possibly due to diet interaction, but ultimate performance was not impacted. While there are existing studies examining prenatal exposure to THC in rodents, this is the first to our knowledge examining memory and attention in adolescence following vaporized THC exposure in utero, and we find indications that prenatal THC exposure may lead to attention deficits and altered memory performance.
Comparable studies
Other preclinical and animal studies on cannabis, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cites 9
- Long-term hippocampal interneuronopathy drives sex-dimorphic spatial memory impairment induced by prenatal THC exposure Neuropsychopharmacology January 26, 2020
- Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) impairs visual working memory performance: a randomized crossover trial. Neuropsychopharmacology October 1, 2020
- FABP5 is important for cognitive function and is an important regulator of the physiological effects and pharmacokinetics of acute Δ9 tetrahydrocannabinol inhalation in mice. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior October 2023
- Prenatal Exposure to Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Affects Hippocampus-Related Cognitive Functions in the Adolescent Rat Offspring: Focus on Specific Markers of Neuroplasticity. Pharmaceutics February 17, 2023
- Vaporized Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol Inhalation in Female Sprague Dawley Rats: A Pharmacokinetic and Behavioral Assessment. Current Pharmaceutical Design 2023
and 4 more in the library