Skip to content

Cannabis use and brain structural alterations in first episode schizophrenia--a region of interest, voxel based morphometric study.

Srihari S Bangalore, Konasale M R Prasad, Debra M Montrose, Dhruman D Goradia, Vaibhav A. Diwadkar, Matcheri S Keshavan

Schizophrenia Research February 2008 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2007.11.029 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional observational study Peer reviewed
Sample size 81
Population First episode schizophrenia patients with cannabis use (n=15), first episode schizophrenia patients without cannabis use (n=24), and healthy controls who did not use cannabis (n=42)
Intervention Cannabis use
Measures Voxel-based morphometry
Topics Cannabis
Key findings First episode schizophrenia patients who used cannabis showed decreased gray matter density in the right posterior cingulate cortex compared with patients who did not use cannabis. The authors suggest this may reflect cannabis-related structural alterations in brain regions rich in CB1 receptors, but note the findings require confirmation by larger, prospective studies.

Abstract

Structural alterations of the brain in schizophrenia have been associated with genetic and environmental factors. Among the environmental factors, cannabis use has been associated with increased risk for patients with schizophrenia, but the effect of cannabis on their brain structure is unclear. We examined gray matter alterations in first episode schizophrenia patients (FES) with cannabis use (FES+C; n=15) compared to FES without cannabis use (FES-C; n=24) and 42 healthy controls who did not use cannabis. We conducted a voxel based morphometric analysis of a priori determined regions of interest consisting of the CB1 receptor rich brain regions. We observed a decrease in gray matter density in the right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) in FES+C when compared with FES-C. The results suggest that cannabis use may be associated with altered brain structure, in particular regions rich in CB1 receptors. These findings need to be confirmed by larger, prospective studies.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on cannabis, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Cannabis use before age 15 and subsequent executive functioning 104 chronic cannabis users (49 early-onset before age 15, 55 late-onset after age 15)... 2011 Observational cross-sectional study n = 148
Patterns of simultaneous polysubstance use in drug using university students Drug-using university students 2006 Cross-sectional survey n = 149
Persisting Reductions in Cannabis, Opioid, and Stimulant Misuse After Naturalistic Psychedelic Use: An Online Survey Online survey respondents 2020 Cross-sectional survey
User perceptions of the benefits and harms of hallucinogenic drug use: A web-based questionnaire study Users of hallucinogenic drugs who completed a web-based questionnaire 2010 Cross-sectional survey n = 600
Illicit Use of LSD or Psilocybin, but not MDMA or Nonpsychedelic Drugs, is Associated with Mystical Experiences in a Dose-Dependent Manner Adults recruited from the MAPS website and newsletter, most reporting use of various... 2012 Cross-sectional survey n = 337

Citations in the library

Cited by 9

and 4 more in the library

Cites 3

Related reading

Explore topics

Cannabis