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Sensory Gating Impairments in Heavy Cannabis Users are Associated with Altered Neural Oscillations

Chad R. Edwards, Patrick D. Skosnik, Adam B. Steinmetz, B. O’Donnell, William P Hetrick

Behavioral Neuroscience August 1, 2009 DOI: 10.1037/a0016328 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational cohort Peer reviewed
Sample size 33
Population 17 heavy cannabis users and 16 cannabis-naive controls
Measures P50 amplitude, event-related spectral perturbations (ERSP), inter-trial coherence (ITC)
Topics Cannabis
Key findings Cannabis users exhibited reduced P50 gating, attenuated beta (13-29 Hz) activity post-S1, attenuated gamma (30-50 Hz) activity post-S2, and reduced theta (4-7 Hz) inter-trial coherence post-S2 compared to controls. Greater cannabis use was associated with higher P50 ratios and lower post-S2 gamma power.

Abstract

Central cannabinoid receptors are thought to mediate neural oscillations and are localized to brain regions implicated in auditory P50 sensory gating, including the hippocampus and neocortex. The current study therefore examined if neural oscillations evoked by the paired clicks (S1, S2) are associated with impaired P50 gating reported in cannabis users. Seventeen heavy cannabis users and 16 cannabis naïve controls participated. Analyses included P50 amplitudes, and time x frequency analyses examining event-related spectral perturbations (ERSP) and inter-trial coherence (ITC). In agreement with prior studies, cannabis users exhibited reduced P50 gating. The ERSP analysis yielded attenuated high frequency activity in the beta range (13-29 Hz) post-S1 and in the gamma range (30-50 Hz) post-S2 in the cannabis group, compared to the control group. Attenuated ITC was also observed in the cannabis group in the post-S2 theta band (4-7 Hz). Greater levels of cannabis use were positively associated with high P50 ratios and negatively with post-S2 ERSP gamma power. These findings suggest that heavy cannabis use is associated with aberrant beta and gamma activity in the dual-click procedure, which corroborates recent work demonstrating disruption of beta/gamma by cannabinoid receptor (CB1) agonists in a rat analogue of this procedure and highlights the translational potential of the dual-click procedure.

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

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