A six-hour time series of the acute effects of ingested cannabis intoxication on a battery of cognitive-motor tasks
Paige Copeland, Quinn Malone, Brian H. Dalton, Chris J. McNeil
PLoS One August 13, 2026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0353389 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subjects time-series study with a control session in a subset Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 15 |
| Population | Infrequent cannabis users (8 females; 29.4 ± 8.1 years) |
| Intervention | THC |
| Dose | 10 mg |
| Duration | 6 hours post-ingestion |
| Measures | simple reaction time, go/no-go reaction time, Corsi block tapping |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key points | After ingesting 10 mg of THC, participants showed subjective drug effects from 1-6 hours, elevated heart rate at 3-6 hours, and elevated blood pressure at 1-4 hours. Cognitive-motor performance declined: simple reaction time increased from 1-6 hours, go/no-go accuracy decreased from 1.5-6 hours, and Corsi block tapping was impaired from 1-5 hours. The authors propose that 3-4 hours post-ingestion is the ideal window for testing cannabis intoxication effects. |
Abstract
The psychoactive component of cannabis, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is known to alter cognitive-motor function; however, despite the high prevalence of cannabis use globally, the time course of the effects of ingesting THC is unclear. To allow future studies to accurately time the assessment of the impacts of cannabis on behaviour, this study aimed to establish a detailed time series of subjective intoxication and cognitive-motor performance following THC ingestion. Fifteen infrequent cannabis users (8 females; 29.4 ± 8.1 y) completed a testing battery before (baseline) and at 11 timepoints (0-6 h) after ingesting 10 mg of THC. A subset of seven participants (3 females; 32.0 ± 8.8 y) also performed an identical control session, with no drug administered. Subjective drug effects and cardiovascular responses were recorded, and cognitive-motor function was measured via performance on simple reaction time, go/no-go reaction time, and Corsi block tapping tasks. Linear mixed-effects models were used to determine if subjective and objective measures changed during the time series. Compared to baseline, participants reported significant subjective drug effects 1-6 h post-ingestion. Heart rate was elevated from 3-6 h, whereas blood pressure was elevated at timepoints between 1-4 h. Individuals demonstrated a robust increase of simple reaction time from 1-6 h, reduced go/no-go accuracy between 1.5-6 h, and impaired Corsi blocking tapping performance between 1-5 h. Overall, the ideal window to test the cognitive-motor effects of cannabis intoxication appears at 3-4 h post-THC ingestion, with a marked perception of feeling high between 2-5 h.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on cannabis, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoked Cannabis' Psychomotor and Neurocognitive Effects in Occasional and Frequent Smokers Occasional (<2x/week) and frequent (≥4x/week) cannabis smokers | 2015 | Controlled within-subjects study | n = 25 |
| Dissociable effects of cannabis with and without cannabidiol on the human brain’s resting-state functional connectivity Healthy volunteers experienced with cannabis but not regular users | 2019 | Within-subjects experimental design | n = 17 |
| Which biological and self-report measures of cannabis use predict cannabis dependency and acute psychotic-like effects? Young cannabis users | 2018 | Observational study (naturalistic, within-subject counterbalanced design) | n = 410 |
| Cannabis Essential Oil: A Preliminary Study for the Evaluation of the Brain Effects Healthy volunteers | 2018 | Experimental study | n = 5 |
| Coming off cannabis: a cognitive and magnetic resonance imaging study in patients with multiple sclerosis Patients with multiple sclerosis who began using cannabis after disease onset, used it... | 2019 | Quasi-experimental study with odd-even allocation | n = 40 |
Citations in the library
Cites 10
- Sex differences in acute cannabis effects revisited: Results from two randomized, controlled trials Addiction Biology December 22, 2021
- Effects of naturalistic doses of cannabis edibles on cognition and association with blood THC. Psychopharmacology March 1, 2026
- Effect of caffeine and cannabidiol (CBD) co-administration on Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) subjective effects, performance impairment, and pharmacokinetics. Neuropsychopharmacology November 1, 2025
- Assessment of Orally Administered Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol When Coadministered With Cannabidiol on Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Healthy Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open February 1, 2023
- Sex differences in the subjective effects of oral Δ9-THC in cannabis users. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior January 2017
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