Neural responses to subliminally presented cannabis and other emotionally evocative cues in cannabis-dependent individuals.
Reagan R Wetherill, Anna Rose Childress, Kanchana Jagannathan, Julian Bender, Kimberly A Young, Jesse J Suh, Charles P O'Brien, Teresa R Franklin
Psychopharmacology April 2014 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-013-3342-z (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational functional neuroimaging study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | Treatment-seeking, cannabis-dependent adults (12 males) |
| Measures | event-related blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging, cannabis craving assessment |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | Backward-masked cannabis cues increased activity in reward and interoception regions, including the left anterior insula, left ventral striatum/amygdala, and right ventral striatum. Cannabis cue-related activity in the bilateral insula and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex was positively associated with baseline cannabis craving, and medial orbitofrontal cortex activity with years of cannabis use. The authors argue these data support a common pathway of appetitive motivation. |
Abstract
Addiction theories posit that drug-related cues maintain and contribute to drug use and relapse. Indeed, our recent study in cocaine-dependent patients demonstrated that subliminally presented cocaine-related stimuli activate reward neurocircuitry without being consciously perceived. Activation of reward neurocircuitry may provoke craving and perhaps prime an individual for subsequent drug-seeking behaviors. Using an equivalent paradigm, we tested whether cannabis cues activate reward neurocircuitry in treatment-seeking, cannabis-dependent individuals and whether activation was associated with relevant behavioral anchors: baseline cannabis craving (drug-seeking behavior) and duration of use (degree of conditioning). Twenty treatment-seeking, cannabis-dependent individuals (12 males) underwent event-related blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging during exposure to 33-ms cannabis, sexual, and aversive cues presented in a backward-masking paradigm. Drug use history and cannabis craving were assessed prior to imaging. Participants showed increased activity to backward-masked cannabis cues in regions supporting reward detection and interoception, including the left anterior insula, left ventral striatum/amygdala, and right ventral striatum. Cannabis cue-related activity in the bilateral insula and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex was positively associated with baseline cannabis craving, and cannabis cue-related activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex was positively correlated with years of cannabis use. Neural responses to backward-masked sexual cues were similar to those observed during cannabis cue exposure, while activation to aversive cues was observed only in the left anterior insula and perigenual anterior cingulate cortex. These data highlight the sensitivity of the brain to subliminal reward signals and support hypotheses promoting a common pathway of appetitive motivation.
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
Cited by 3
- Altered orbitofrontal activity and dorsal striatal connectivity during emotion processing in dependent marijuana users after 28 days of abstinence. Psychopharmacology March 2018
- Cannabis, cigarettes, and their co-occurring use: disentangling differences in default mode network functional connectivity Drug and Alcohol Dependence June 10, 2015
- Cannabis, Cigarettes, and Their Co-Occurring Use: Disentangling Differences in Gray Matter Volume. The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology June 4, 2015