Altered Functional Connectivity Dynamics Serving Cognitive Flexibility in Regular Cannabis Users.
Kellen M McDonald, Mikki Schantell, Jason A John, Anna T Coutant, Ryan Glesinger, Lucy K Horne, Hannah J Okelberry, Seth D Springer, Christine M Embury, Yasra Arif, Tony W Wilson
Addiction Biology February 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1111/adb.70023 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 55 |
| Population | Chronic cannabis users and demographically matched non-users |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Meg Attention network Magnetoencephalography Oscillations Task switch |
| Key findings | Chronic cannabis users exhibit altered associations between functional connectivity switch costs and behavioral switch costs along pathways connecting visual cortices and regions in the ventral attention network within theta, alpha, and gamma frequency ranges. |
Abstract
Despite its widespread use and popularity, cannabis is known to impact higher order cognitive processes such as attention and executive function. However, far less is known about the impact of chronic cannabis use on cognitive flexibility, a component of executive function, and this is especially true for the underlying functional connectivity dynamics. To address this, we enrolled 25 chronic cannabis users and 30 demographically matched non-users who completed an interview probing current and past substance use, a urinalysis to confirm self-reported substance use and a task-switch cognitive paradigm during magnetoencephalography (MEG). Time-frequency windows of interest were identified using a data-driven statistical approach, and spectrally specific neural oscillatory responses were imaged using a beamformer. The resulting maps were grand-averaged across all participants and conditions, and the peak voxels in these maps of neural oscillatory activity were used as seeds to compute connectivity using a whole-brain cortical-coherence approach. Whole-brain neural switch cost connectivity maps were then computed by subtracting the connectivity map for the no-switch condition from that of the switch condition per participant. These switch cost functional connectivity maps were then correlated with the behavioural switch cost per group and probed for group differences in the neuro-behavioural associations. Our behavioural results indicated that all participants had slower reaction times during switch compared to no-switch trials. Regarding the MEG data, cannabis users exhibited altered associations between functional connectivity switch costs and behavioural switch costs along pathways connecting visual cortices and regions in the ventral attention network, within the theta, alpha and gamma frequency ranges. These results indicate modified multispectral associations between functional connectivity and behavioural switch costs among visual cortices and key brain regions underlying executive function in cannabis users.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on cannabis, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-potency cannabis and the risk of psychosis People with first episode of psychosis and healthy controls from the local population | 2009 | Case-control study | n = 454 |
| Ayahuasca-Assisted Therapy for Addiction: Results from a Preliminary Observational Study in Canada Rural aboriginal population | 2013 | Observational study | |
| Impaired cognitive performance in drug free users of recreational ecstasy (MDMA) Otherwise healthy young people | 2000 | Observational | |
| Continued cannabis use and risk of incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms: 10 year follow-up cohort study Individuals from the general population in Germany aged 14-24 at baseline | 2011 | Observational cohort | n = 1,923 |
| Cannabis-induced psychosis and subsequent schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: follow-up study of 535 incident cases Patients treated for cannabis-induced psychotic symptoms in Denmark between 1994 and... | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 535 |
Citations in the library
Cites 22
- Regular cannabis use modulates gamma activity in brain regions serving motor control. Journal of Psychopharmacology November 1, 2024
- Chronic cannabis use alters the spontaneous and oscillatory gamma dynamics serving cognitive control. Human Brain Mapping August 1, 2024
- Chronic Cannabis users exhibit altered oscillatory dynamics and functional connectivity serving visuospatial processing. Journal of Psychopharmacology August 1, 2024
- The neural oscillations serving task switching are altered in cannabis users. Journal of Psychopharmacology May 2024
- Altered functional connectivity and oscillatory dynamics in polysubstance and cannabis only users during visuospatial processing. Psychopharmacology April 2023
and 17 more in the library