Alterations in Electroencephalography Theta as Candidate Biomarkers of Acute Cannabis Intoxication.
Christian D Richard, Jared R Poole, Marissa McConnell, Amir H Meghdadi, Marija Stevanovic-Karic, Greg Rupp, Abigail Fink, Rose Schmitt, Timothy L Brown, Chris Berka
Frontiers in Neuroscience 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.744762 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subject counterbalanced experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 12 |
| Population | Healthy, young recreational cannabis users |
| Interventions | Cannabis Placebo |
| Duration | 1-hour testbed |
| Measures | Theta band power (3-5 Hz), P400 amplitude, late positive potential (LPP) amplitude, frontal coherence, anterior-posterior coherence |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Attention Biomarkers Electroencephalography Event-related potentials Intoxication Memory |
| Key findings | Cannabis intoxication was associated with decreased theta band power (3-5 Hz) during resting state, reduced average P400 and late positive potential amplitudes during attention and memory tasks, elevated frontal coherence, and diminished anterior-posterior coherence in the theta band. The authors propose these EEG measures as biomarkers for profiling cannabis intoxication. |
Abstract
The trend toward cannabis legalization in the United States over the past two decades has unsurprisingly been accompanied by an increase in the number of cannabis users and use patterns that potentially pose wider risks to the public like driving under the influence. As such, it is becoming increasingly important to develop methods to accurately quantify cannabis intoxication and its associated impairments on cognitive and motor function. Electroencephalography (EEG) offers a non-invasive method for quantitatively assessing neurophysiological biomarkers of intoxication and impairment with a high degree of temporal resolution. Twelve healthy, young recreational cannabis users completed a series of neurocognitive tasks with concurrent EEG acquisition using the ABM STAT X24 EEG headset in a within-subject counterbalanced design. The 1-h testbed consisted of resting state tasks and tests of attention and memory. Spectral densities were computed for resting state tasks, and event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained for the attention and memory tasks. Theta band power (3-5 Hz) was decreased during cannabis intoxication compared to placebo during resting state tasks, as were average P400 and late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes during attention and memory tasks. Cannabis intoxication was also associated with elevated frontal coherence and diminished anterior-posterior coherence in the Theta frequency band. This work highlights the utility of EEG to identify and quantify neurophysiological biomarkers from recordings obtained during a short neurocognitive testbed as a method for profiling cannabis intoxication. These biomarkers may prove efficacious in distinguishing intoxicated from non-intoxicated individuals in lab and real-world settings.
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 3
- Identifying EEG markers related to acute cannabis consumption: A systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews May 1, 2025
- Regulation of neural connectivity and oscillations by cannabinoids: A review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 7, 2026
- The Relationship Between Cannabinoids and Neural Oscillations: How Cannabis Disrupts Sensation, Perception, and Cognition Clinical EEG and Neuroscience November 25, 2022
Cites 9
- Dissociable effects of cannabis with and without cannabidiol on the human brain’s resting-state functional connectivity Journal of Psychopharmacology April 23, 2019
- Altered Fronto-Occipital Connectivity during Visual Selective Attention in Regular Cannabis Users Psychopharmacology November 25, 2020
- Cannabis users exhibit increased cortical activation during resting state compared to non-users Neuroimage June 9, 2018
- Dose-related modulation of event-related potentials to novel and target stimuli by intravenous Δ⁹-THC in humans. Neuropsychopharmacology June 2012
- Disruption of frontal θ coherence by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol is associated with positive psychotic symptoms. Neuropsychopharmacology December 8, 2010
and 4 more in the library