Altered Neurobehavioral Reward Response Predicts Psychotic-Like Experiences in Youth Exposed to Cannabis Prenatally

Abstract BACKGROUND: Rates of prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) are rising with increasingly permissive legislation, which may be a risk factor for psychosis. Disrupted reward-related neural circuitry may underlie this relationship. We aim to elucidate neural mechanisms involved in the association between PCE and youth-onset psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) by probing correlates of reward anticipation, a neurobehavioral marker of endocannabinoid-mediated dopaminergic function. METHODS: This longitudinal, prospective study analyzed task-related functional neuroimaging data from baseline (N = 11,368), 2-year follow-up (n = 7928),