Acute effects of marijuana smoke on complex operant behavior in rhesus monkeys.
G E Schulze, D E McMillan, J R Bailey, Andrew C. Scallet, S F Ali, William Slikker, Merle G. Paule
Life Sciences 1989 DOI: 10.1016/0024-3205(89)90096-9 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational laboratory study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 9 |
| Population | Rhesus monkeys trained on food-reinforced operant tasks (task-specific n of 3 to 9) |
| Interventions | Marijuana smoke Placebo smoke |
| Dose | 1, 5, 10, and 15 puffs (35cc/puff) or one cigarette smoked to a butt length of approximately 10 mm (approximately 20 puffs) |
| Measures | incremental repeated acquisition (IRA), conditioned position responding (CPR), progressive ratio (PR), delayed matching to sample (DMTS), temporal response differentiation responding (TRD) |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Key findings | Marijuana smoke at 10 or more puffs disrupted performance on all operant tasks except progressive ratio, mainly by decreasing response rates or increasing latencies; accuracy was not altered below rate-decreasing doses. Among three animals tested on all five schedules, sensitivity ranked delayed matching to sample and temporal response differentiation highest, then repeated acquisition and conditioned position responding, with progressive ratio least sensitive. |
Abstract
The acute behavioral effects of marijuana smoke were assessed in rhesus monkeys using a battery of food-reinforced complex operant tasks that included incremental repeated acquisition (IRA, n = 9), conditioned position responding (CPR, n = 8), progressive ratio (PR, n = 8), delayed matching to sample (DMTS, n = 6), and temporal response differentiation responding (TRD, n = 3). Marijuana or placebo smoke was delivered by a specialized face mask 15-min before sessions at exposure levels of 1, 5, 10, and 15 puffs (35cc/puff) or one cigarette smoked to a butt length of approximately 10 mm (approximately 20 puffs). Marijuana smoke caused significant disruptions of performance in all tests except PR after exposure to 10 or more puffs. Generally, response rates decreased or latencies to respond increased. Performance in the PR test was not consistently affected by marijuana exposure. Accuracy of responding was not altered by marijuana smoke at doses lower than those that decreased response rates in the IRA or CPR tests. In the three animals performing under all five schedules, the relative sensitivities for detecting marijuana behavioral effects were DMTS = TRD greater than IRA = CPR greater than PR. These results suggest that performance under operant schedules that are thought to represent some aspect of time perception, short-term memory, learning, motivation, and position discrimination show differential sensitivity to disruption by marijuana smoke, a finding similar to that noted previously for iv THC administration.
Comparable studies
Other preclinical and animal studies on cannabis, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 9
- Δ(9)Tetrahydrocannabinol impairs reversal learning but not extra-dimensional shifts in rhesus macaques. Neuroscience April 3, 2013
- Δ⁹Tetrahydrocannabinol impairs visuo-spatial associative learning and spatial working memory in rhesus macaques. Journal of Psychopharmacology October 2012
- Delay- and dose-dependent effects of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol administration on spatial and object working memory tasks in adolescent rhesus monkeys. Neuropsychopharmacology May 2012
- Application of a computational decision model to examine acute drug effects on human risk taking. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology May 2006
- Acute marijuana effects on human risk taking. Neuropsychopharmacology April 2005
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