Disturbances of visual information processing in early states of psychosis and experimental delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol altered states of consciousness.
Dagmar Koethe, Christoph W Gerth, Miriam A Neatby, Anita Haensel, Martin Thies, Udo Schneider, Hinderk M. Emrich, Joachim Klosterkötter, Frauke Schultze-Lutter, F Markus Leweke
Schizophrenia Research December 1, 2006 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2006.07.023 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort with healthy control groups Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Antipsychotic-naïve patients with acute paranoid schizophrenic or schizophreniform psychosis, patients in the prodromal state, healthy volunteers, and healthy volunteers given oral synthetic delta-9-THC |
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Cannabis |
| Key findings | THC-induced altered states of consciousness may serve as a useful tool for modeling psychotic disorders, particularly their prodromal states. |
Abstract
Recent data on alterations of the endogenous cannabinoid system in schizophrenia have raised the question of its functional role in this disease. The psychoactive compound of Cannabis sativa, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC), has been shown to induce psychotic symptoms, but it is unknown to what extend prodromal states of psychoses are reflected by these experimental approaches. This study compares four groups of subjects: antipsychotic-naïve patients suffering from acute paranoid schizophrenic or schizophreniform psychosis (SZ), patients in the prodromal state (IPS), healthy controls without any pharmacological intervention (HC) and a second group of healthy volunteers who were orally administered synthetic Delta9-THC (Dronabinol) (HC-THC). Neither SZ and IPS nor HC received the experimental drug. All subjects were assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Binocular Depth Inversion Illusion Test (BDII). The latter represents a sensitive measure of impaired visual information processing that manifests in various experimental and naturally occurring psychotic states. BDII values were well comparable in SZ, IPS and HC-THC, and all groups differed significantly to HC. The BPRS revealed no significant difference between HC-THC and IPS while both were significantly different from SZ and HC, respectively. Our results suggest that Delta9-THC-induced altered states of consciousness may serve as a useful tool for modeling psychotic disorders, particularly their prodromal states. Furthermore, they provide insight into the perceptual and psychopathological alterations induced by Delta9-THC, which is essential for the understanding of the pro-psychotic effects of herbal cannabis preparations with highly enriched Delta9-THC content.
Comparable studies
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| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG. 6 female, 7 male human participants | 2019 | Observational cohort | n = 13 |
| Measures of entropy and complexity in altered states of consciousness Subjects during resting wakefulness, different sleep stages, and epileptic seizures | 2017 | Observational study | |
| Altered States of Consciousness and Short-Term Psychological After-Effects Induced by the First Time Ritual Use of Ayahuasca in an Urban Context in Brazil First-time ayahuasca users in Santo Daime and União do Vegetal rituals | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 28 |
| Quantifying arousal and awareness in altered states of consciousness using interpretable deep learning Healthy individuals during sleep, individuals under general anesthesia, and patients... | 2022 | Observational cohort | n = 71 |
| Subanaesthetic ketamine and altered states of consciousness in humans Human volunteers | 2018 | Observational study | n = 15 |
Citations in the library
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- From drugs to deprivation: a Bayesian framework for understanding models of psychosis Psychopharmacology May 27, 2009
- Gone to Pot – A Review of the Association between Cannabis and Psychosis Frontiers in Psychiatry May 22, 2014
- Acute Effects of a Single, Oral dose of d9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) Administration in Healthy Volunteers Current Pharmaceutical Design September 12, 2012
- “Spiceophrenia”: a systematic overview of “Spice”‐related psychopathological issues and a case report Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental July 1, 2013
- Modulation of effective connectivity during emotional processing by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology September 24, 2009
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Cites 7
- Causal association between cannabis and psychosis: examination of the evidence The British Journal of Psychiatry January 30, 2004
- Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol effects in schizophrenia: implications for cognition, psychosis, and addiction. Biological Psychiatry March 15, 2005
- The psychotomimetic effects of intravenous delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in healthy individuals: implications for psychosis. Neuropsychopharmacology August 2004
- Different effects of nabilone and cannabidiol on binocular depth inversion in Man. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior May 2000
- Effects of synthetic delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol on binocular depth inversion of natural and artificial objects in man. Psychopharmacology March 1999
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