Chronic cannabis use alters the spontaneous and oscillatory gamma dynamics serving cognitive control.
Mikki Schantell, Jason A John, Anna T Coutant, Hannah J Okelberry, Lucy K Horne, Ryan Glesinger, Seth D Springer, Amirsalar Mansouri, Pamela E May-Weeks, Tony W Wilson
Human Brain Mapping August 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26787 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 67 |
| Population | Regular cannabis users and nonusers |
| Topics | Cannabis CBD |
| Keywords | Plv Magnetoencephalography meg Phase locking |
| Key findings | Regular cannabis use is associated with suppressed spontaneous gamma activity in the left FEF and TPJ, and greater cannabis use is linked to weaker spontaneous gamma in the left TPJ. |
Abstract
Regular cannabis use is associated with cortex-wide changes in spontaneous and oscillatory activity, although the functional significance of such changes remains unclear. We hypothesized that regular cannabis use would suppress spontaneous gamma activity in regions serving cognitive control and scale with task performance. Participants (34 cannabis users, 33 nonusers) underwent an interview regarding their substance use history and completed the Eriksen flanker task during magnetoencephalography (MEG). MEG data were imaged in the time-frequency domain and virtual sensors were extracted from the peak voxels of the grand-averaged oscillatory interference maps to quantify spontaneous gamma activity during the pre-stimulus baseline period. We then assessed group-level differences in spontaneous and oscillatory gamma activity, and their relationship with task performance and cannabis use metrics. Both groups exhibited a significant behavioral flanker interference effect, with slower responses during incongruent relative to congruent trials. Mixed-model ANOVAs indicated significant gamma-frequency neural interference effects in the left frontal eye fields (FEF) and left temporoparietal junction (TPJ). Further, a group-by-condition interaction was detected in the left FEF, with nonusers exhibiting stronger gamma oscillations during incongruent relative to congruent trials and cannabis users showing no difference. In addition, spontaneous gamma activity was sharply suppressed in cannabis users relative to nonusers in the left FEF and TPJ. Finally, spontaneous gamma activity in the left FEF and TPJ was associated with task performance across all participants, and greater cannabis use was associated with weaker spontaneous gamma activity in the left TPJ of the cannabis users. Regular cannabis use was associated with weaker spontaneous gamma in the TPJ and FEF. Further, the degree of use may be proportionally related to the degree of suppression in spontaneous activity in the left TPJ.
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
Cited by 5
- Regulation of neural connectivity and oscillations by cannabinoids: A review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 7, 2026
- Chronic cannabis use differentially modulates neural oscillations serving the manipulate versus maintain components of working memory processing. Neurobiology of Disease February 1, 2025
- Altered Functional Connectivity Dynamics Serving Cognitive Flexibility in Regular Cannabis Users. Addiction Biology February 1, 2025
- Cannabis- and HIV-related perturbations to the cortical gamma dynamics supporting inhibitory processing. Brain Communications 2025
- Regular cannabis use modulates gamma activity in brain regions serving motor control. Journal of Psychopharmacology November 1, 2024
Cites 10
- The neuropsychopharmacology of cannabis: A review of human imaging studies Pharmacology & Therapeutics October 20, 2018
- Regular cannabis use modulates the impact of HIV on the neural dynamics serving cognitive control. Journal of Psychopharmacology December 2022
- Aberrant inhibitory processing in the somatosensory cortices of cannabis-users. Journal of Psychopharmacology November 2021
- Regular Recreational Cannabis Users Exhibit Altered Neural Oscillatory Dynamics during Attention Reorientation Psychological Medicine September 22, 2021
- Altered Fronto-Occipital Connectivity during Visual Selective Attention in Regular Cannabis Users Psychopharmacology November 25, 2020
and 5 more in the library