Effects of THC on behavioral measures of impulsivity in humans.
Jennifer S. McDonald, Laura Schleifer, Jerry B Richards, Harriet de Wit
Neuropsychopharmacology July 2003 DOI: 10.1038/sj.npp.1300176 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial (crossover) Double-blind Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 37 |
| Population | Healthy recreational marijuana users (men and women) |
| Dose | 7.5 mg and 15 mg |
| Duration | Three sessions |
| Measures | Stop task, Go/no-go task, Delay discounting task, Probability discounting task, time reproduction task, ARCI euphoria and marijuana scales |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | THC increased impulsive responding on the Stop task but did not affect Go/no-go, delay discounting, or probability discounting performance. THC increased estimates of short time intervals but not longer ones. No correlations were found among the four impulsivity measures, suggesting impulsivity is composed of distinct components. |
Abstract
This study investigated the acute effects of delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on four behavioral measures of impulsivity in recreational marijuana users. Although impulsive behavior has been studied using several different measures of impulsivity, few studies have utilized more than one of these measures on a single cohort. In this study, 37 healthy men and women participated in three sessions, in which they received capsules containing placebo, 7.5, or 15 mg THC in randomized order under double-blind conditions. Subjects were tested on the following four tasks: the Stop task, which measures the ability to inhibit a prepotent motor response; a Go/no-go task; a Delay discounting task, which measures the value of delayed or uncertain reinforcers; and a time estimation task, which measures alterations in time perception through a time reproduction procedure. Subjects also completed mood questionnaires and general measures of performance. THC produced its expected effects on subjective measures including increases in ARCI euphoria and marijuana scales. THC increased impulsive responding on the Stop task but did not affect performance on either the Go/no-go or Delay or Probability discounting tasks. On the time reproduction task, THC increased estimates of the duration of short intervals while not affecting estimates of longer intervals. There were no significant correlations between the four tasks either before or after drug administration. These results suggest that THC may increase certain forms of impulsive behavior while not affecting other impulsive behaviors. The dissociations between the four measures of impulsivity suggest that impulsivity is an assemblage of distinct components rather than a unitary process.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on cannabis, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cannabidiol inhibits THC-elicited paranoid symptoms and hippocampal-dependent memory impairment Healthy participants | 2012 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 48 |
| Distinct Effects of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol on Neural Activation During Emotional Processing Healthy, English-native, right-handed men who had used cannabis 15 times or less in... | 2009 | Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial | n = 15 |
| Acute Effects of a Single, Oral dose of d9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) Administration in Healthy Volunteers Healthy male subjects | 2012 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 16 |
| Modulation of Mediotemporal and Ventrostriatal Function in Humans by Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Healthy, native English-speaking, right-handed men of white race/ethnicity who had used... | 2009 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 15 |
| Cannabidiol (CBD) content in vaporized cannabis does not prevent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-induced impairment of driving and cognition Healthy volunteers with a history of light cannabis use | 2019 | Randomized, double-blind, within-subjects crossover | n = 14 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 59
- 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
- Smoked Cannabis' Psychomotor and Neurocognitive Effects in Occasional and Frequent Smokers Journal of Analytical Toxicology March 4, 2015
- Effects of Cannabis on Impulsivity: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging Findings Current Pharmaceutical Design May 10, 2014
- Cognitive motor deficits in cannabis users Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences July 19, 2016
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