Effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on evaluation of emotional images
Michael E. Ballard, Gillinder Bedi, Harriet de Wit
Journal of Psychopharmacology May 13, 2012 DOI: 10.1177/0269881112446530 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Healthy volunteers |
| Intervention | Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol |
| Dose | 7.5 and 15 mg; p.o. |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Sadness Anger Happiness Affect linguistics Mood Emotion perception Facial expression Disgust Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol Audiology Clinical psychology Communication Cannabinoid |
| Citations | 52 |
| Key findings | THC significantly impairs recognition of facial fear and anger, but only marginally impairs recognition of sadness and happiness, and does not consistently affect ratings of emotional scenes. |
Abstract
There is growing evidence that drugs of abuse alter processing of emotional information in ways that could be attractive to users. Our recent report that Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) diminishes amygdalar activation in response to threat-related faces suggests that THC may modify evaluation of emotionally-salient, particularly negative or threatening, stimuli. In this study, we examined the effects of acute THC on evaluation of emotional images. Healthy volunteers received two doses of THC (7.5 and 15 mg; p.o.) and placebo across separate sessions before performing tasks assessing facial emotion recognition and emotional responses to pictures of emotional scenes. THC significantly impaired recognition of facial fear and anger, but it only marginally impaired recognition of sadness and happiness. The drug did not consistently affect ratings of emotional scenes. THC's effects on emotional evaluation were not clearly related to its mood-altering effects. These results support our previous work, and show that THC reduces perception of facial threat. Nevertheless, THC does not appear to positively bias evaluation of emotional stimuli in general.