Cannabis Use and Resting State Functional Connectivity in the Aging Brain
K. Watson, Angela D Bryan, R. Thayer, Jarrod M. Ellingson, Carillon J. Skrzynski, Kent E. Hutchison
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience February 10, 2022 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.804890 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Older adults (aged 65+) who were regular cannabis users or non-users, plus 25-35 year old non-users and 60-88 year old non-users |
| Intervention | Cannabis |
| Measures | resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | Older adult cannabis users showed stronger resting-state functional connectivity between hippocampal and parahippocampal sources and anterior cerebellar targets than older non-users. A similar pattern of strengthened hippocampal-cerebellar connectivity was seen in younger (25-35) non-users compared with older (60-88) non-users. The authors suggest future studies should examine both potential risks and potential benefits of cannabinoids for cognition and brain health in older adults. |
Abstract
Several lines of evidence suggest that older adults (aged 65+) sharply increased their cannabis use over the last decade, highlighting a need to understand the effects of cannabis in this age group. Pre-clinical models suggest that cannabinoids affect the brain and cognition in an age-dependent fashion, having generally beneficial effects on older animals and deleterious effects on younger ones. However, there is little research on how cannabis affects the brains of older adults or how older adults differ from younger adults who use cannabis. Resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) measures provide sensitive metrics of age-related cognitive decline. Here we compared rsFC in older adults who are either regular users of cannabis or non-users. We found stronger connectivity between sources in the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex, and targets in the anterior lobes of the cerebellum in older adult cannabis users relative to non-users. A similar pattern of strengthened connectivity between hippocampal and cerebellar structures was also present in 25–35 year old non-users in comparison to 60–88 year old non-users. These findings suggest that future studies should examine both the potential risks of cannabinoids, as well as a potential benefits, on cognition and brain health for older adults.