Evidence of increased activation underlying cognitive control in ecstasy and cannabis users.
Gloria M P Roberts, Hugh P Garavan
Neuroimage August 15, 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.04.192 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case-control functional magnetic resonance imaging study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 40 |
| Population | Current recreational drug users who predominantly used ecstasy (20, ten female) and healthy controls (20) |
| Topics | Cannabis MDMA |
| Key findings | Drug users and controls showed no difference in GO/NOGO task performance, but users had elevated frontal and parietal BOLD response during successful inhibitions and temporal, frontal, and cingulate hyperactivity during commission errors, plus reduced default-mode network deactivation. The authors argue these patterns indicate dysregulation in brain regions subserving cognitive control and default-mode processes, resembling effects reported for harder drugs of abuse. |
Abstract
Evidence suggests that users of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) have behavioural and cognitive deficits and show increased impulsivity. Impulse control impairments have been shown to be common to a number of addictive behaviours and may constitute a risk factor for drug abuse and dependence. The aim of this study was to investigate brain activation during response inhibition and performance monitoring in current recreational drug users who predominantly used ecstasy. Twenty drug users (ten female) and twenty healthy controls were scanned during performance of a response-inhibition GO/NOGO task using functional magnetic resonance imaging. No performance deficits were evident. However, the drug user group revealed elevated frontal and parietal BOLD response during successful inhibitions, and temporal, frontal, and cingulate hyperactivity during commission errors. In addition, the users showed reduced deactivation in the default-mode network during task performance. Whether contributing to or arising from drug use, these results reveal dysregulation in brain regions subserving cognitive control and default-mode processes in current recreational drug users mirroring effects previously observed for "harder" drugs of abuse.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on cannabis, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-potency cannabis and the risk of psychosis People with first episode of psychosis and healthy controls from the local population | 2009 | Case-control study | n = 454 |
| Ayahuasca-Assisted Therapy for Addiction: Results from a Preliminary Observational Study in Canada Rural aboriginal population | 2013 | Observational study | |
| Impaired cognitive performance in drug free users of recreational ecstasy (MDMA) Otherwise healthy young people | 2000 | Observational | |
| Continued cannabis use and risk of incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms: 10 year follow-up cohort study Individuals from the general population in Germany aged 14-24 at baseline | 2011 | Observational cohort | n = 1,923 |
| Cannabis-induced psychosis and subsequent schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: follow-up study of 535 incident cases Patients treated for cannabis-induced psychotic symptoms in Denmark between 1994 and... | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 535 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- Resting State Networks and Consciousness Frontiers in Psychology 2012
- Effects of Cannabis on Impulsivity: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging Findings Current Pharmaceutical Design May 10, 2014
- Cannabis affects people differently: inter-subject variation in the psychotogenic effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study with healthy volunteers Psychological Medicine October 1, 2012
- MDMA and brain activity during neurocognitive performance: An overview of neuroimaging studies with abstinent ‘Ecstasy’ users Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews August 8, 2017
- MDMA & Cannabis: A Mini-Review of Cognitive, Behavioral, and Neurobiological Effects of Co-Consumption Current Drug Abuse Reviews June 1, 2011
and 9 more in the library
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and 11 more in the library