Cannabis, Cigarettes, and Their Co-Occurring Use: Disentangling Differences in Gray Matter Volume.
Reagan R Wetherill, Kanchana Jagannathan, Nathan M. Hager, Anna Rose Childress, Hengyi Rao, Teresa R Franklin
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology June 4, 2015 DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyv061 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Cannabis-dependent individuals who do not smoke tobacco, cannabis-dependent individuals who smoke tobacco, cannabis-naïve nicotine-dependent tobacco smokers, and healthy controls |
| Topics | Addiction Cannabis |
| Keywords | Gray matter volume Nicotine Voxel-based morphometry |
| Key findings | The authors report that cannabis and tobacco exposure are associated with gray matter volume differences in addiction-related regions. All substance-using groups showed larger left putamen volume than controls; cannabis-dependent groups showed smaller thalamic volume, and tobacco-smoking groups showed smaller left cerebellar volume than controls. |
Abstract
Structural magnetic resonance imaging techniques are powerful tools for examining the effects of drug use on the brain. The nicotine and cannabis literature has demonstrated differences between nicotine cigarette smokers and cannabis users compared to controls in brain structure; however, less is known about the effects of co-occurring cannabis and tobacco use. We used voxel-based morphometry to examine gray matter volume differences between four groups: (1) cannabis-dependent individuals who do not smoke tobacco (Cs); (2) cannabis-dependent individuals who smoke tobacco (CTs); (3) cannabis-naïve, nicotine-dependent individuals who smoke tobacco (Ts); and (4) healthy controls (HCs). We also explored associations between gray matter volume and measures of cannabis and tobacco use. A significant group effect was observed in the left putamen, thalamus, right precentral gyrus, and left cerebellum. Compared to HCs, the Cs, CTs, and Ts exhibited larger gray matter volumes in the left putamen. Cs also had larger gray matter volume than HCs in the right precentral gyrus. Cs and CTs exhibited smaller gray matter volume than HCs in the thalamus, and CTs and Ts had smaller left cerebellar gray matter volume than HCs. This study extends previous research that independently examined the effects of cannabis or tobacco use on brain structure by including an examination of co-occurring cannabis and tobacco use, and provides evidence that cannabis and tobacco exposure are associated with alterations in brain regions associated with addiction.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on cannabis for addiction, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Evidence of familial confounding of the association between cannabis use and cerebellar-cortical functional connectivity using a twin study. NeuroImage: Clinical 2022
- Residual Effects of THC via Novel Measures of Brain Perfusion and Metabolism in a Large Group of Chronic Cannabis Users. Neuropsychopharmacology March 2018
- Cannabis, cigarettes, and their co-occurring use: disentangling differences in default mode network functional connectivity Drug and Alcohol Dependence June 10, 2015
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