Dose-related heart-rate, perceptual, and decisional changes in man following marihuana smoking.
C F Schaefer, C G Gunn, K M Dubowski
Perceptual and Motor Skills February 1977 DOI: 10.2466/pms.1977.44.1.3 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized crossover experiment (Latin square protocol) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 12 |
| Population | Adult male subjects who smoked marihuana |
| Dose | 0, 10, or 20 mg of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) |
| Duration | Three consecutive experimental sessions |
| Measures | heart rate, urinary THC metabolite assays, tachistoscopic counting accuracy, complex reaction time for oddity discrimination, Rod-and-frame test |
| Key findings | Information-processing accuracy declined significantly with increasing THC dose during tachistoscopic counting of circles, but this effect disappeared when irrelevant triangles were added to the display. Complex reaction times for oddity discrimination increased significantly only after the 20 mg dose, while both 10 mg and 20 mg doses reduced the tendency to respond to changing stimuli. Field-dependence, measured by the Rod-and-frame test, was unaffected. |
Abstract
Information processing was tested in 12 male subjects after smoking marihuana containing 0, 10, or 20 mg. of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in three consecutive experimental sessions according to a Latin square protocol. Successful dose control was indicated both by the dose-related linear increase observed in heart rate and by preliminary assays of THC metabolites excreted in the urine. During tachistoscopic presentation of varying numbers of circles, statistically significant decrements in information processing occurred as a function of THC dosage. However, adding irrelevant information (triangles) to the display of circles eliminated effects of marihuana on accuracy of counting. Complex reaction times for oddity discrimination increased significantly only after the high dose. Nonetheless, both the social and high doses inappropriately inhibited the general tendency to respond to changing stimuli during oddity discrimination. Marihuana had no effect on field-dependence as measured by the Rod-and-frame test.
Citations in the library
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- Cannabis self-administration in the human laboratory: a scoping review of ad libitum studies. Psychopharmacology July 1, 2023
- The endocannabinoid system as a target for modelling psychosis. Psychopharmacology November 1, 2009
- Biomarkers for the effects of cannabis and THC in healthy volunteers. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology January 2009
- Acute marijuana effects on human risk taking. Neuropsychopharmacology April 2005
- Effects of tetrahydrocannabinol content on marijuana smoking behavior, subjective reports, and performance. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior September 1989
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