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Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
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Readable research linked to original sources
Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
Loading articles data…
Readable research linked to original sources
Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
19 articles
Newest firstSubstance use has been associated with blunted brain responses to non-drug rewards, but findings in people who use cannabis are mixed. Adolescents may be uniquely vulnerable to cannabis-related disruption to reward processing due to ongoing neuromaturation, but longitudinal research is lacking. In this longitudinal fMRI study, we compared brain measures of reward anticipation in 46 adolescents (16–17 years) and ad…
Open article record in new tab ↗Adolescence is a developmental period characterised by increased vulnerability to cannabis use disorder (CUD). However, previous investigations of this vulnerability have relied on cross-sectional comparisons and lack a detailed assessment of cannabis quantity, a potentially important confounding factor. Here, we aimed to investigate the one-year course of CUD in adolescents compared to adults who currently use ca…
In patients with schizophrenia, cannabis use exacerbates symptoms and can lead to a relapse of psychosis. Some experimental studies in healthy volunteers suggest that pre-treatment with cannabidiol (CBD) may reduce these effects, but others do not. Here, we investigated whether pre-treatment with CBD ameliorates the acute adverse effects of cannabis in patients with schizophrenia. Participants (n = 30) had schizop…
Background Cannabis use disorder (CUD) affects up to 1 in 5 people who try cannabis. In order to develop effective interventions to prevent and treat CUD, it is important to identify the factors that predict it. This longitudinal study investigated whether eight potential risk factors predicted CUD levels at 12-month follow-up. Methods Participants were 232 young adults (26-29 years) and adolescents (16-17 years)…
Open article record in new tab ↗Rationale Despite the critical role of choice processes in substance use disorders, the neurobehavioral mechanisms guiding human decisions about drugs remain poorly understood. Objectives We aimed to characterize the neural encoding of subjective value (SV) for cannabis versus non-drug rewards (snacks) in people who use cannabis on a near-daily/daily frequency (PWUCF) and assessed the impact of cannabis and snack…
Open article record in new tab ↗Adolescence is a time of rapid neurodevelopment and the endocannabinoid system is particularly prone to change during this time. Cannabis is a commonly used drug with a particularly high prevalence of use among adolescents. The two predominant phytocannabinoids are Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), which affect the endocannabinoid system. It is unknown whether this period of rapid developme…
Open article record in new tab ↗Rationale Attentional bias to drug-related stimuli is hypothesised to contribute towards addiction. However, the acute effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on attentional bias to cannabis cues, the differential response in adults and adolescents, and the moderating effect of cannabidiol (CBD) are unknown. Objectives Our study investigated (1) the acute effects of vaporised cannabis on attentional bias to canna…
Open article record in new tab ↗Introduction: Cannabis use is common in people with psychotic disorders and is associated with the exacerbation of symptoms, poor treatment adherence, and an increased risk of relapse. Accurate assessment of cannabis use is thus critical to the clinical management of psychosis. Discussion: Cannabis use is usually assessed with self-report questionnaires that were originally developed for healthy individuals or peo…
Open article record in new tab ↗Rationale Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) have been identified as novel therapeutics for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) based on pre-clinical models; however, there is a paucity of high-quality evidence on their effectiveness and safety. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients with GAD treated with dried flower, oil-based preparations, or a combination of both CBMPs.…
Open article record in new tab ↗Background Cannabis use may be linked with anhedonia and apathy. However, previous studies have shown mixed results, and few have examined the association between cannabis use and specific reward sub-processes. Adolescents may be more vulnerable than adults to harmful effects of cannabis. This study investigated (1) the association between non-acute cannabis use and apathy, anhedonia, pleasure, and effort-based de…
Open article record in new tab ↗Background and aims Long-term harms of cannabis may be exacerbated in adolescence, but little is known about the acute effects of cannabis in adolescents. We aimed to (i) compare the acute effects of cannabis in adolescent and adult cannabis users and (ii) determine if cannabidiol (CBD) acutely modulates the effects of delta-9-tetrahydocannabinol (THC). Design Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossove…
Background Cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are the two major constituents of cannabis with contrasting mechanisms of action. THC is the major psychoactive, addiction-promoting, and psychotomimetic compound, while CBD may have opposite effects. The brain effects of these drugs alone and in combination are poorly understood. In particular, the striatum is implicated in the pathophysiology of seve…
Chronic use of drugs may alter the brain's reward system, though the extant literature concerning long-term cannabis use and neural correlates of reward processing has shown mixed results. Adolescents may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of cannabis than adults; however, this has not been investigated for reward processing. As part of the 'CannTeen' study, in the largest functional magnetic resonance imag…
Open article record in new tab ↗Background Adolescence is characterised by psychological and neural development. Cannabis harms may be accentuated during adolescence. We hypothesised that adolescents would be more vulnerable to the associations between cannabis use and mental health and addiction problems than adults. Method As part of the 'CannTeen' study, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis. There were 274 participants: split into groups o…
Background The lack of an agreed international minimum approach to measuring cannabis use hinders the integration of multidisciplinary evidence on the psychosocial, neurocognitive, clinical and public health consequences of cannabis use. Methods A group of 25 international expert cannabis researchers convened to discuss a multidisciplinary framework for minimum standards to measure cannabis use globally in diverse…
Background COVID-19 lockdown measures have caused severe disruptions to work and education and prevented people from engaging in many rewarding activities. Cannabis users may be especially vulnerable, having been previously shown to have higher levels of apathy and anhedonia than non-users. Methods In this survey study, we measured apathy and anhedonia, before and after lockdown measures were implemented, in n = 2…
Open article record in new tab ↗Background Cannabidiol has potential therapeutic benefits for people with psychiatric disorders characterised by reward function impairment. There is existing evidence that cannabidiol may influence some aspects of reward processing. However, it is unknown whether cannabidiol acutely affects brain function underpinning reward anticipation and feedback. Hypotheses We predicted that cannabidiol would augment brain a…
Background Despite the current shift towards permissive cannabis policies, few studies have investigated the pleasurable effects users seek. Here, we investigate the effects of cannabis on listening to music, a rewarding activity that frequently occurs in the context of recreational cannabis use. We additionally tested how these effects are influenced by cannabidiol, which may offset cannabis-related harms. Method…
Open article record in new tab ↗Rationale Cannabis and tobacco are often smoked simultaneously in joints, and this practice may increase the risks of developing tobacco and/or cannabis use disorders. Currently, there is no human experimental research on how these drugs interact on addiction-related measures. Objectives This study aimed to investigate how cannabis and tobacco, each alone and combined together in joints, affected individuals' dema…
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