Psychopharmacology
July 2008
Lance R Mcmahon, Brett C Ginsburg, R J Lamb
A variety of behavioral procedures have been developed to assess cannabinoid activity in mice; however, the feasibility of establishing Delta(9)-THC as a discriminative stimulus in mice has not been documented. One goal was to establish Delta(9)-THC as a discriminative stimulus in mice; after having done so, another goal was to examine the in vivo mechanism of action of Delta(9)-THC with other...
Psychopharmacology
July 2008
Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Gabriel Braley, Rebecca Blaise et al.
Cannabinoids produce a spectrum of effects in humans including euphoria, cognitive impairments, psychotomimetic effects, and perceptual alterations. The extent to which dopaminergic systems contribute to the effects of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9-THC) remains unclear. This study evaluated whether pretreatment with a dopamine receptor antagonist altered the effects of Delta-9-THC in...
Addiction Biology
June 2008
Ziva D. Cooper, Margaret Haney
Awareness of cannabis dependence as a clinically relevant issue has grown in recent years. Clinical and laboratory studies demonstrate that chronic marijuana smokers can experience withdrawal symptoms upon cessation of marijuana smoking and have difficulty abstaining from marijuana use. This paper will review data implicating the cannabinoid CB1 receptor in regulating the behavioral effects of...
Addiction Biology
June 2008
Roger G Pertwee
A major finding--that (-)-trans-Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC) is largely responsible for the psychotropic effects of cannabis--prompted research in the 1970s and 1980s that led to the discovery that this plant cannabinoid acts through at least two types of cannabinoid receptor, CB(1) and CB(2), and that Delta(9)-THC and other compounds that target either or both of these...
Addiction Biology
June 2008
Miriam Schneider
During puberty, neuronal maturation of the brain, which began during perinatal development, is completed such that the behavioral potential of the adult organism can be fully achieved. These maturational events and processes of reorganization are needed for the occurrence of adult behavioral performance but simultaneously render the organism highly susceptible to perturbations, such as exposure...
Addiction Biology
June 2008
F Markus Leweke, Dagmar Koethe
Since the discovery of the endocannabinoid system, a growing body of psychiatric research has emerged focusing on the role of this system in major psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BD), major depression and anxiety disorder. Continuing in the line of earlier epidemiological studies, recent replication studies indicate that frequent cannabis use doubles the risk...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
June 2008
A Weinstein, O Brickner, H Lerman et al.
Heavy use of marijuana is claimed to damage critical skills related to short-term memory, visual scanning and attention. Motor skills and driving safety may be compromised by the acute effects of marijuana. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of 13 mg and 17 mg Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on skills important for coordinated movement and driving and on subjective...
Psychiatry Research
May 30, 2008
Alecia D Schweinsburg, Bonnie J Nagel, Brian C Schweinsburg et al.
Marijuana is the most widely used illicit substance among teenagers, yet little is known about the possible neural influence of heavy marijuana use during adolescence. We previously demonstrated an altered functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity related to spatial working memory (SWM) among adolescents who were heavy users of after an average of 8 days of abstinence, but the...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
May 30, 2008
L Clark, Jonathan P. Roiser, Trevor W Robbins et al.
Evidence for serotonin involvement in impulsivity has generated interest in the measurement of impulsivity in regular ecstasy users, who are thought to display serotonergic dysfunction. However, current findings are inconsistent. Here, we used a recently developed Information Sampling Test to measure 'reflection' impulsivity in 46 current ecstasy users, 14 subjects who used ecstasy in the past,...
Journal of Neurochemistry
May 2008
Aoife Gowran, Veronica A Campbell
The psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC), can evoke apoptosis in cultured cortical neurones. Whilst the intracellular mechanisms responsible for this apoptotic pathway remain to be fully elucidated, we have recently identified a role for the CB1 type of cannabinoid (CB) receptor and the tumour suppressor protein, p53. In the current study, we...
Accident; Analysis and Prevention
May 2008
Adi Ronen, Pnina Gershon, Hanan Drobiner et al.
The effects of marijuana or THC on driving has been tested in several studies, but usually not in conjunction with physiological and subjective responses and not in comparison to alcohol effects on all three types of measures. To assess the effects of two dosages of THC relative to alcohol on driving performance, physiological strain, and subjective feelings. We tested the subjective feelings...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
April 1, 2008
Robert E Vann, Thomas F Gamage, Jonathan A Warner et al.
Cannabis sativa (marijuana plant) contains myriad cannabinoid compounds; yet, investigative attention has focused almost exclusively on Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), its primary psychoactive substituent. Interest in modulation of THC's effects by these other cannabinoids (e.g., cannabidiol (CBD)) has been stimulated anew by recent approval by Canada of Sativex (a 1:1 dose ratio...
Current Opinion in Psychiatry
March 1, 2008
Lynn E. DeLisi
67 citations
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review explores what is known about the association of cannabis with schizophrenia, its effects on the brain, and whether the brain changes known to be present in schizophrenia could be caused by cannabis and thus lead to a psychosis. RECENT FINDINGS: The heavy use of cannabis is known to be associated with some adverse consequences, such as the occurrence of acute...
Das Gesundheitswesen
March 1, 2008
Yehonala Gudlowski
Psychosen sind Störungen der Neurotransmission im Gehirn. Bestimmte Neurotransmitter (z.B. Dopamin, Serotonin und Glutamat) werden in bestimmten Hirnregionen zu viel, in anderen zu wenig ausgeschüttet, so dass es zu Störungen des Denkens, der Handlungsplanung und der sensorischen Wahrnehmung (Halluzinationen) kommt oder bestimmte Ereignisse in bizarrer Weise interpretiert werden. So kann beim...
Psychological Medicine
February 26, 2008
David Jonathan Castle
1 citation
© 2008 Cambridge University Press. Online edition of the journal is available at http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PSM
Psychological Medicine
February 26, 2008
Anton Grech
1 citation
Should we advise patients with serious mental illness to stop using cannabis?Advising patients with serious mental illness to stop their cannabis intake tends to be unpopular with patients, and also with some psychiatrists.Patients enjoy using cannabis, and can perceive it as being therapeutically beneficial.Thus, their reluctance to stop their cannabis intake is understandable.The argument of...
Psychological Medicine
February 26, 2008
Cécile Henquet, Jim van Os
9 citations
symptom experience amongst people with a mental illness : a commentary
Clinical Neurophysiology
February 2008
Ronald I. Herning, Warren Better, Jean L Cadet
Marijuana abuse is associated with neurological changes including increases in frontal EEG alpha during abstinence. Research is needed to assess to what extent these EEG patterns are indicative of cerebral perfusion deficits. We recorded the resting eyes closed EEG of 75 abstinent marijuana users and 33 control subjects. Fifty-six marijuana users used marijuana for less than eight years and 19...
Schizophrenia Research
February 2008
Srihari S Bangalore, Konasale M R Prasad, Debra M Montrose et al.
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...
Neuroscience
January 24, 2008
K Sano, K Mishima, E Koushi et al.
Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been reported to induce catalepsy-like immobilization, but the mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. In the present study, in order to fully understand the neural circuits involved, we determined the brain sites involved in the immobilization effect in rats. THC dose-dependently induced catalepsy-like immobilization. THC-induced catalepsy-like...