Marijuana's acute effects on cognitive bias for affective and marijuana cues.
Jane Metrik, Elizabeth R Aston, Christopher W Kahler, Damaris J Rohsenow, John E McGeary, Valerie S Knopik
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology October 2015 DOI: 10.1037/pha0000030 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subjects experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 89 |
| Population | Regular marijuana users |
| Intervention | Placebo |
| Dose | 2.7-3.0% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) |
| Measures | pleasantness rating task, emotional Stroop task |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | Active marijuana increased response latency to negatively valenced and marijuana-related visual stimuli and increased pleasantness ratings of marijuana images, though less than placebo because marijuana urge was reduced after smoking. It did not acutely change processing of positive emotional stimuli. Attentional bias to positive words was seen only in the subgroup with cannabis dependence. |
Abstract
Marijuana produces acute increases in positive subjective effects and decreased reactivity to negative affective stimuli, though may also acutely induce anxiety. Implicit attentional and evaluative processes may explicate marijuana's ability to acutely increase positive and negative emotions. This within-subjects study examined whether smoked marijuana with 2.7-3.0% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), relative to placebo, acutely changed attentional processing of rewarding and negative affective stimuli as well as marijuana-specific stimuli. On 2 separate days, regular marijuana users (N = 89) smoked placebo or active THC cigarette and completed subjective ratings of mood, intoxication, urge to smoke marijuana, and 2 experimental tasks: pleasantness rating (response latency and perceived pleasantness of affective and marijuana-related stimuli) and emotional Stroop (attentional bias to affective stimuli). On the pleasantness rating task, active marijuana increased response latency to negatively valenced and marijuana-related (vs. neutral) visual stimuli, beyond a general slowing of response. Active marijuana also increased pleasantness ratings of marijuana images, although to a lesser extent than placebo due to reduced marijuana urge after smoking. Overall, active marijuana did not acutely change processing of positive emotional stimuli. There was no evidence of attentional bias to affective word stimuli on the emotional Stroop task with the exception of attentional bias to positive word stimuli in the subgroup of marijuana users with cannabis dependence. Marijuana may increase allocation of attentional resources toward marijuana-specific and negatively valenced visual stimuli without altering processing of positively valenced stimuli. Marijuana-specific cues may be more attractive with higher levels of marijuana craving and less wanted with low craving levels.
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 6
- Social Psychopharmacology: Novel Approaches to Treat Deficits in Social Motivation in Schizophrenia Schizophrenia Bulletin June 26, 2023
- The Effects of Cannabidiol and δ-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in Social Cognition: A Naturalistic Controlled Study Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research July 26, 2022
- Sex differences in the acute effects of cannabis on human cognition: A systematic review. Frontiers in neuroendocrinology October 1, 2025
- Direct Effects of Cannabis Intoxication on Motivations for Softer and Harder Drug Use: An Experimental Approach to the Gateway Hypothesis Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research March 16, 2023
- The effects of cannabis use on salience attribution: a systematic review. Acta Neuropsychiatrica February 2018
and 1 more in the library
Cites 9
- Modulation of effective connectivity during emotional processing by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology September 24, 2009
- Balanced placebo design with marijuana: pharmacological and expectancy effects on impulsivity and risk taking. Psychopharmacology October 2012
- Cannabidiol attenuates the appetitive effects of Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in humans smoking their chosen cannabis. Neuropsychopharmacology August 2010
- Altered affective response in marijuana smokers: an FMRI study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence November 1, 2009
- Effectiveness of a marijuana expectancy manipulation: Piloting the balanced-placebo design for marijuana. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology August 1, 2009
and 4 more in the library