Dataset Information

Cannabis effects on brain structure, function, and cognition: considerations for medical uses of cannabis and its derivatives.

ABSTRACT: Background: Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance worldwide, and legalization for recreational and medical purposes has substantially increased its availability and use in the United States.Objectives: Decades of research have suggested that recreational cannabis use confers risk for cognitive impairment across various domains, and structural and functional differences in the brain have been linked to early and heavy cannabis use.Methods: With substantial evidence for the role of the endocannabinoid system in neural development and understanding that brain development continues into early adulthood, the rising use of cannabis in adolescents and young adults raises major concerns. Yet some formulations of cannabinoid compounds are FDA-approved for medical uses, including applications in children.Results: Potential effects on the trajectory of brain morphology and cognition, therefore, should be considered. The goal of this review is to update and consolidate relevant findings in order to inform attitudes and public policy regarding the recreational and medical use of cannabis and cannabinoid compounds.Conclusions: The findings point to considerations for age limits and guidelines for use.

SUBMITTER: Burggren AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7027431 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cannabis effects on brain structure, function, and cognition: considerations for medical uses of cannabis and its derivatives.

Burggren Alison C AC Shirazi Anaheed A Ginder Nathaniel N London Edythe D ED

The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse 20190731 6

Background: Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance worldwide, and legalization for recreational and medical purposes has substantially increased its availability and use in the United States.Objectives: Decades of research have suggested that recreational cannabis use confers risk for cognitive impairment across various domains, and structural and functional differences in the brain have been linked to early and heavy cannabis use.Methods: With substantial eviden ...[more]

PMID: 31365275

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Project description:Growing up in a bilingual environment is becoming increasingly common. Yet, we know little about how this enriched language environment influences the connectivity of children's brains. Behavioural research in children and adults has shown that bilingualism experience may boost executive control (EC) skills, such as inhibitory control and attention. Moreover, increased structural and functional (resting-state) connectivity in language-related and EC-related brain networks is associated with increased executive control in bilingual adults. However, how bilingualism factors alter brain connectivity early in brain development remains poorly understood. We will combine standardised tests of attention with structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in bilingual children. This study will allow us to address an important field of inquiry within linguistics and developmental cognitive neuroscience by examining the following questions: Does bilingual experience modulate connectivity in language-related and EC-related networks in children? Do differences in resting-state brain connectivity correlate with differences in EC skills (specifically attention skills)? How do bilingualism-related factors, such as age of exposure to two languages, language usage and proficiency, modulate brain connectivity? We will collect structural and functional MRI, and quantitative measures of EC and language skills from two groups of English-Greek bilingual children - 20 simultaneous bilinguals (exposure to both languages from birth) and 20 successive bilinguals (exposure to English between the ages of 3 and 5 years) - and 20 English monolingual children, 8-10 years old. We will compare connectivity measures and attention skills between monolinguals and bilinguals to examine the effects of bilingual exposure. We will also examine to what extent bilingualism factors predict brain connectivity in EC and language networks. Overall, we hypothesize that connectivity and EC will be enhanced in bilingual children compared to monolingual children, and each outcome will be modulated by age of exposure to two languages and by bilingual language usage.

Dataset Information

Cannabis effects on brain structure, function, and cognition: considerations for medical uses of cannabis and its derivatives.

Publications

Cannabis effects on brain structure, function, and cognition: considerations for medical uses of cannabis and its derivatives.

Similar Datasets

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