Alterations of theory of mind network activation in chronic cannabis users.
Patrik Roser, Silke Lissek, Martin Tegenthoff, Volkmar Nicolas, Georg Juckel, Martin Brüne
Schizophrenia Research August 2012 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2012.05.020 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case-control functional neuroimaging study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 29 |
| Population | Chronic cannabis users and healthy control subjects |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | Chronic cannabis users showed altered brain activation during a theory-of-mind task compared with controls: less activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus and right precuneus and cuneus, but greater activation in the left cuneus and right anterior cingulate gyrus. The authors suggest these patterns resemble those found in at-risk populations and may indicate that cannabis use affects social information processing similarly to other risk factors for psychosis. |
Abstract
Chronic cannabis use is associated with cognitive impairment and has been identified as a risk factor for schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia show profound deficits in social cognition such as the ability to attribute mental states to others, referred to as "theory of mind" (ToM). Aberrant activation of the ToM network has been demonstrated across different phases of schizophrenia, including at-risk stages. Accordingly, we aimed to investigate the ToM network in chronic cannabis users. Fifteen cannabis users received functional brain imaging during performance of a ToM cartoon story task. Findings were compared with 14 control subjects. Cannabis users showed less activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus, the right precuneus and cuneus, but greater activation in the left cuneus and the right anterior cingulate gyrus compared to healthy controls. These activation patterns resemble those found in at-risk populations, suggesting that cannabis use can affect the processing of social information similar to other risk factor constellations for psychosis.
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 7
- Impaired cognitive performance under psychosocial stress in cannabis-dependent men is associated with attenuated precuneus activity Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience February 26, 2020
- The Effects of Cannabidiol and δ-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in Social Cognition: A Naturalistic Controlled Study Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research July 26, 2022
- Impaired cognitive performance under psycho-social stress in cannabis-dependent males is mediated by attenuated precuneus activity bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) September 29, 2018
- Decoding the Neural Correlates of Social Cognition and Emotion Recognition in Cannabis Users: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging Studies. Behavioural Brain Research August 1, 2025
- Effects of Cannabis Use on Neurocognition: A Scoping Review of MRI Studies Journal of Psychoactive Drugs June 29, 2024
and 2 more in the library
Cites 15
- Causal association between cannabis and psychosis: examination of the evidence The British Journal of Psychiatry January 30, 2004
- Distinct Effects of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol on Neural Activation During Emotional Processing Archives of General Psychiatry 2009
- Continued cannabis use and risk of incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms: 10 year follow-up cohort study BMJ March 1, 2011
- Auditory mismatch negativity deficits in long-term heavy cannabis users. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience September 2010
- Structural MRI findings in long-term cannabis users: what do we know? Substance Use & Misuse September 2010
and 10 more in the library