Dataset Information

Longitudinal associations between amygdala reactivity and cannabis use in a large sample of adolescents.

ABSTRACT: RATIONALE:The amygdala is a key brain structure to study in relation to cannabis use as reflected by its high-density of cannabinoid receptors and functional reactivity to processes relevant to drug use. Previously, we identified a correlation between cannabis use in early adolescence and amygdala hyper-reactivity to angry faces (Spechler et al. 2015). OBJECTIVES:Here, we leveraged the longitudinal aspect of the same dataset (the IMAGEN study) to determine (1) if amygdala hyper-reactivity predicts future cannabis use and (2) if amygdala reactivity is affected by prolonged cannabis exposure during adolescence. METHODS:First, linear regressions predicted the level of cannabis use by age 19 using amygdala reactivity to angry faces measured at age 14 prior to cannabis exposure in a sample of 1119 participants. Next, we evaluated the time course of amygdala functional development from age 14 to 19 for angry face processing and how it might be associated with protracted cannabis use throughout this developmental window. We compared the sample from Spechler et al. 2015, the majority of whom escalated their use over the 5-year interval, to a matched sample of non-users. RESULTS:Right amygdala reactivity to angry faces significantly predicted cannabis use 5 years later in a dose-response fashion. Cannabis-naïve adolescents demonstrated the lowest levels of amygdala reactivity. No such predictive relationship was identified for alcohol or cigarette use. Next, follow-up analyses indicated a significant group-by-time interaction for the right amygdala. CONCLUSIONS:(1) Right amygdala hyper-reactivity is predictive of future cannabis use, and (2) protracted cannabis exposure during adolescence may alter the rate of neurotypical functional development.

SUBMITTER: Spechler PA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7572697 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Longitudinal associations between amygdala reactivity and cannabis use in a large sample of adolescents.

Spechler Philip A PA Chaarani Bader B Orr Catherine C Albaugh Matthew D MD Fontaine Nicholas R NR Higgins Stephen T ST Banaschewski Tobias T Bokde Arun L W ALW Quinlan Erin Burke EB Desrivières Sylvane S Flor Herta H Grigis Antoine A Gowland Penny P Heinz Andreas A Ittermann Bernd B Artiges Eric E Martinot Marie-Laure Paillère MP Nees Frauke F Orfanos Dimitri Papadopoulos DP Paus Tomáš T Poustka Luise L Hohmann Sarah S Fröhner Juliane H JH Smolka Michael N MN Walter Henrik H Whelan Robert R Schumann Gunter G Garavan Hugh H

Psychopharmacology 20200808 11

<h4>Rationale</h4>The amygdala is a key brain structure to study in relation to cannabis use as reflected by its high-density of cannabinoid receptors and functional reactivity to processes relevant to drug use. Previously, we identified a correlation between cannabis use in early adolescence and amygdala hyper-reactivity to angry faces (Spechler et al. 2015).<h4>Objectives</h4>Here, we leveraged the longitudinal aspect of the same dataset (the IMAGEN study) to determine (1) if amygdala hyper-re ...[more]

PMID: 32772145

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Project description:AIMS:This study tested whether adolescents who used cannabis or met criteria for cannabis dependence showed neuropsychological impairment prior to cannabis initiation and neuropsychological decline from before to after cannabis initiation. DESIGN:A longitudinal co-twin control study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:Participants were 1989 twins from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of twins born in England and Wales from 1994 to 1995. MEASUREMENTS:Frequency of cannabis use and cannabis dependence were assessed at age 18. Intelligence quotient (IQ) was obtained at ages 5, 12 and 18. Executive functions were assessed at age 18. FINDINGS:Compared with adolescents who did not use cannabis, adolescents who used cannabis had lower IQ in childhood prior to cannabis initiation and lower IQ at age 18, but there was little evidence that cannabis use was associated with IQ decline from ages 12-18. For example, adolescents with cannabis dependence had age 12 and age 18 IQ scores that were 5.61 (t = -3.11, P = 0.002) and 7.34 IQ points (t = -5.27, P < 0.001) lower than adolescents without cannabis dependence, but adolescents with cannabis dependence did not show greater IQ decline from age 12-18 (t = -1.27, P = 0.20). Moreover, adolescents who used cannabis had poorer executive functions at age 18 than adolescents who did not use cannabis, but these associations were generally not apparent within twin pairs. For example, twins who used cannabis more frequently than their co-twin performed similarly to their co-twin on five of six executive function tests (Ps > 0.10). The one exception was that twins who used cannabis more frequently than their co-twin performed worse on one working memory test (Spatial Span reversed; ? = -0.07, P = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS:Short-term cannabis use in adolescence does not appear to cause IQ decline or impair executive functions, even when cannabis use reaches the level of dependence. Family background factors explain why adolescent cannabis users perform worse on IQ and executive function tests.

Project description:ObjectiveThis study tested longitudinal associations between cannabis use and cardiometabolic risk factors that underlie the development of cardiovascular diseases.MethodsParticipants were men from the youngest cohort of the Pittsburgh Youth Study who were followed prospectively from approximately age 7 to 32 years (N = 253). Frequency of cannabis use was assessed yearly from approximately ages 12 to 20 years and again at approximately ages 26, 29, and 32 years. The following cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed during a laboratory visit at approximately age 32 years: body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, insulin resistance, blood pressure, interleukin 6, and C-reactive protein.ResultsGreater cannabis exposure was associated with relatively lower BMI (β = -0.31, p < .001), smaller waist-hip ratio (β = -0.23, p = .002), better high- (β = 0.14, p = .036) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β = -0.15, p = .026), lower triglycerides (β = -0.17, p = .009), lower fasting glucose (β = -0.15, p < .001) and insulin resistance (β = -0.21, p = .003), lower systolic (β = -0.22, p < .001) and diastolic blood pressure (β = -0.15, p = .028), and fewer metabolic syndrome criteria (β = -0.27, p < .001). With exception of BMI, cannabis users' mean levels on cardiometabolic risk factors were generally below clinical cutoffs for high risk. Most associations between cannabis use and cardiometabolic risk factors remained after adjusting for tobacco use, childhood socioeconomic status, and childhood health. However, after adjusting for adult BMI, these associations were no longer apparent, and mediation tests suggested that cannabis users' relatively lower BMI might explain their lower levels of risk on other cardiometabolic risk factors.ConclusionsCannabis use is associated with lower BMI, and lower BMI is related to lower levels of risk on other cardiometabolic risk factors.

Project description:IMPORTANCE:After major policy changes in the United States, policymakers, health care professionals, and the general public seek information about whether recreational cannabis use is associated with physical health problems later in life. OBJECTIVE:To test associations between cannabis use over 20 years and a variety of physical health indexes at early midlife. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:Participants belonged to a representative birth cohort of 1037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972 and 1973 and followed to age 38 years, with 95% retention (the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study). We tested whether cannabis use from ages 18 to 38 years was associated with physical health at age 38, even after controlling for tobacco use, childhood health, and childhood socioeconomic status. We also tested whether cannabis use from ages 26 to 38 years was associated with within-individual health decline using the same measures of health at both ages. EXPOSURES:We assessed frequency of cannabis use and cannabis dependence at ages 18, 21, 26, 32, and 38 years. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:We obtained laboratory measures of physical health (periodontal health, lung function, systemic inflammation, and metabolic health), as well as self-reported physical health, at ages 26 and 38 years. RESULTS:The 1037 study participants were 51.6% male (n = 535). Of these, 484 had ever used tobacco daily and 675 had ever used cannabis. Cannabis use was associated with poorer periodontal health at age 38 years and within-individual decline in periodontal health from ages 26 to 38 years. For example, cannabis joint-years from ages 18 to 38 years was associated with poorer periodontal health at age 38 years, even after controlling for tobacco pack-years (? = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.05-0.18; P <.001). Additionally, cannabis joint-years from ages 26 to 38 years was associated with poorer periodontal health at age 38 years, even after accounting for periodontal health at age 26 years and tobacco pack-years (? = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.05-0.16; P <.001) However, cannabis use was unrelated to other physical health problems. Unlike cannabis use, tobacco use was associated with worse lung function, systemic inflammation, and metabolic health at age 38 years, as well as within-individual decline in health from ages 26 to 38 years. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:Cannabis use for up to 20 years is associated with periodontal disease but is not associated with other physical health problems in early midlife.

Project description:ObjectiveImpulsivity is an established etiological risk factor for alcohol- and cannabis-related outcomes. However, limited work has focused on longitudinal associations between multiple trait impulsivity facets and indices of alcohol and cannabis use among military veterans-a contextually distinct population that evidence unique impulsive personality traits and substance use patterns.MethodA structural equation model (SEM) examined longitudinal associations between five UPPS-P impulsivity facets measured at baseline and six indices of alcohol and cannabis use (i.e., frequency, quantity, and problems) measured at 1-year follow-up among 361 returning Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) veterans.ResultsFindings indicated baseline sensation seeking was significantly positively associated with 1-year alcohol use frequency (β = .18); baseline negative urgency was positively associated with alcohol use problems (β = .31); and baseline lack of perseverance (β = .25) and sensation seeking (β = .21) were positively associated with 1-year cannabis use problems. None of the baseline impulsivity facets were associated with 1-year alcohol use quantity, cannabis use frequency, or cannabis use quantity.ConclusionsResults provide preliminary support that impulsivity may play a unique role in understanding alcohol- and cannabis-related problems over time among veterans. Further, results suggest that specific impulsivity facets are prospectively associated with cannabis problems (i.e., lack of perseverance and sensation seeking) and alcohol problems (i.e., negative urgency). Findings reinforce the importance of differentially evaluating impulsivity-substance use associations within contextually distinct populations (e.g., adolescent, veteran), and highlight potentially meaningful intervention targets among veterans. However, replication is needed with stronger temporal controls and more diverse veteran subsamples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Dataset Information

Longitudinal associations between amygdala reactivity and cannabis use in a large sample of adolescents.

Publications

Longitudinal associations between amygdala reactivity and cannabis use in a large sample of adolescents.

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