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.
Publication Type
International, Open Access, Article
Intervention Type
Screening / Assessment
Identification #
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.11.004
Repository Staff Only: item control page
