Manza, Peter and Tomas, Dardo and Volkow, Nora D (2018) Subcortical local functional hyperconnectivity in cannabis dependence. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 3, (3), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.11.004.
External website: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S...
Background: Cannabis abuse has been associated with psychopathology, including negative emotionality and a higher risk of psychosis, particularly with early age of initiation. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. Because aberrant dopamine (DA) signaling is implicated in cannabis-associated psychopathology, we hypothesized that regular cannabis abuse (CA) would be associated with altered resting functional connectivity in dopamine midbrain-striatal circuits.
Methods: We examined resting brain activity of subcortical regions in 441 young adults from the Human Connectome Project, including 30 CA meeting DSM criteria for dependence, and 30 controls matched on age, sex, education, BMI, anxiety, depression, and alcohol/tobacco usage.
Results: Across all subjects, local functional connectivity density (lFCD) hubs in subcortical regions were most prominent in ventral striatum, hippocampus, amygdala, dorsal midbrain, and the posterior-ventral brainstem. As hypothesized, CA showed markedly increased lFCD relative to controls in ventral striatum (where nucleus accumbens is located) and midbrain (where substantia nigra/ventral tegmental nuclei are located) but also in brainstem and lateral thalamus. These effects were observed in the absence of significant differences in subcortical volumes, and were most pronounced in the individuals who began cannabis use earliest in life and who reported high levels of negative emotionality.
Conclusions: Together, these findings suggest that chronic cannabis abuse is associated with changes in resting brain function, particularly in dopaminergic nuclei implicated in psychosis but that are also critical for habit formation and reward processing. These results shed light on neurobiological differences that may be relevant to psychopathology associated with cannabis use.
Item Type
Article
Publication Type
International, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
Cannabis
Intervention Type
Screening / Assessment
Date
2018
Identification #
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.11.004
Pages
8 p.
Publisher
Elsevier
Volume
3
Number
3
EndNote
Subjects
A Substance use and dependence > Effects or consequences
B Substances > Cannabis / Marijuana
E Concepts in biomedical areas > Nervous system physiology (brain, neural)
F Concepts in psychology > Emotion (anxiety / joy)
G Health and disease > State of health > Mental health
G Health and disease > Substance use disorder (addiction) > Drug use disorder > Drug dependence
G Health and disease > Behavioural and mental health disorder (Psychosis / mood)
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Risk and protective factors > Risk factors
VA Geographic area > United States
B Substances > Cannabis / Marijuana
E Concepts in biomedical areas > Nervous system physiology (brain, neural)
F Concepts in psychology > Emotion (anxiety / joy)
G Health and disease > State of health > Mental health
G Health and disease > Substance use disorder (addiction) > Drug use disorder > Drug dependence
G Health and disease > Behavioural and mental health disorder (Psychosis / mood)
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Risk and protective factors > Risk factors
VA Geographic area > United States
Repository Staff Only: item control page