Altered neural associations with cognitive and emotional functions in cannabis dependence.
Xinying Wang, Hui Zhou, Yuzheng Hu
Cerebral Cortex May 4, 2023 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad153 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractCannabis-dependent individuals show an unusual link between negative emotions and poor cognitive performance, unlike healthy controls. Analyzing resting-state fMRI data from the Human Connectome Project, the authors found opposite brain-behavior associations in the two groups: in healthy controls, better cognitive performance correlated with stronger within-network connectivity and segregation of the cognitive network, but these correlations were reversed in cannabis-dependent individuals. In cannabis-dependent individuals, better cognitive performance correlated with stronger within-network effective connectivity and integration, associations not significant in controls. Effective connectivity within the cognition network also mediated the behavioral coupling between emotional state and cognitive performance. The results suggest disorganization of the cognitive network in cannabis dependence.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Cannabis-dependent individuals and healthy controls from the Human Connectome Project |
| Keywords | Medicine Psychology |
| Key finding | Cannabis-dependent individuals show reversed correlations between cognitive performance and within-network functional connectivity and segregation of the cognitive network compared to healthy controls, and effective connectivity within the cognition network mediates the coupling between emotional state and cognitive performance. |
Abstract
Negative emotional state has been found to correlate with poor cognitive performance in cannabis-dependent (CD) individuals, but not healthy controls (HCs). To examine the neural substrates underlying such unusual emotion-cognition coupling, we analyzed the behavioral and resting state fMRI data from the Human Connectome Project and found opposite brain-behavior associations in the CD and HC groups: (i) although the cognitive performance was positively correlated with the within-network functional connectivity strength and segregation (i.e. clustering coefficient and local efficiency) of the cognitive network in HCs, these correlations were inversed in CDs; (ii) although the cognitive performance was positively correlated with the within-network Granger effective connectivity strength and integration (i.e. characteristic path length) of the cognitive network in CDs, such associations were not significant in HCs. In addition, we also found that the effective connectivity strength within cognition network mediated the behavioral coupling between emotional state and cognitive performance. These results indicate a disorganization of the cognition network in CDs, and may help improve our understanding of substance use disorder.