Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T16:17:26.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 8 - The Impact of Cannabis Exposure on the Adolescent Brain

Human Studies and Translational Insights

from Part III - Cannabis and the Brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2023

By
Jacqueline-Marie Ferland ,
Alexandra Chisholm  and
Yasmin L. Hurd
Edited by
Deepak Cyril D'Souza ,
David Castle  and
Sir Robin Murray
Deepak Cyril D'Souza
Affiliation:
Staff Psychiatrist, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
David Castle
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania, Australia
Sir Robin Murray
Affiliation:
Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychosis Service at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust; Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry
Get access

Summary

Human studies have expanded insight about the lasting effects of adolescent cannabis use documenting structural and functional alterations in frontal and limbic regions of the brain, potentially relevant to behavioural vulnerability. Functional neuroimaging indicates that cannabis experience during adolescence is associated with perturbations in regions relevant to cognitive function such as working memory, attention, inhibitory control, and decision-making. Inconsistencies evident in the literature likely relate to variability in amount and frequency of cannabis use, potency, psychiatric comorbidity, and polysubstance use. Translational pre-clinical models help to elucidate how these factors contribute to protracted behavioural vulnerability of adolescent cannabis exposure.

Keywords

cannabiscannabinoidsTHCadolescenceneurodevelopmentmyelinationcognitionemotionrewardepigenetics
Type
Chapter
Information
Marijuana and Madness , pp. 68 - 75
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdullaev, Y., Posner, M. I., Nunnally, R., et al. (2010). Functional MRI evidence for inefficient attentional control in adolescent chronic cannabis abuse. Behav Brain Res, 215, 45–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Albaugh, M. D., Ottino-Gonzalez, J., Sidwell, A., et al. (2021). Association of cannabis use during adolescence with neurodevelopment. JAMA Psychiatry, 78, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ashtari, M., Avants, B., Cyckowski, L., et al. (2011). Medial temporal structures and memory functions in adolescents with heavy cannabis use. J Psychiatr Res, 45, 1055–1066.Google Scholar
Baedke, J. (2013). The epigenetic landscape in the course of time: Conrad Hal Waddington’s methodological impact on the life sciences. Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci, 44, 756–773.Google Scholar
Baggio, S., Deline, S., Studer, J., et al. (2014). Routes of administration of cannabis used for nonmedical purposes and associations with patterns of drug use. J Adolesc Health, 54, 235–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bara, A., Ferland, J. N., Rompala, G., et al. (2021). Cannabis and synaptic reprogramming of the developing brain. Nat Rev Neurosci, 22, 423–438.Google Scholar
Behan, B., Connolly, C. G., Datwani, S., et al. (2014). Response inhibition and elevated parietal-cerebellar correlations in chronic adolescent cannabis users. Neuropharmacology, 84, 131–137.Google Scholar
Berghuis, P., Rajnicek, A. M., Morozov, Y. M., et al. (2007). Hardwiring the brain: Endocannabinoids shape neuronal connectivity. Science, 316, 1212–1216.Google Scholar
Calakos, K. C., Bhatt, S., Foster, D. W., et al. (2017). Mechanisms underlying sex differences in cannabis use. Curr Addict Rep, 4, 439–453.Google Scholar
Chadwick, B., Miller, M. L., and Hurd, Y. L. (2013). Cannabis use during adolescent development: Susceptibility to psychiatric illness. Front Psychiatry, 4, 129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Choo, E. K., Benz, M., Zaller, N., et al. (2014). The impact of state medical marijuana legislation on adolescent marijuana use. J Adolesc Health, 55, 160–166.Google Scholar
Churchwell, J. C., Lopez-Larson, M., and Yurgelun-Todd, D. A. (2010). Altered frontal cortical volume and decision making in adolescent cannabis users. Front Psychol, 1, 225.Google Scholar
De Felice, M., Renard, J., Hudson, R., et al. (2021). L-Theanine prevents long-term affective and cognitive side effects of adolescent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol exposure and blocks associated molecular and neuronal abnormalities in the mesocorticolimbic circuitry. J Neurosci, 41, 739–750.Google Scholar
Di Forti, M., Sallis, H., Allegri, F., et al. (2014). Daily use, especially of high-potency cannabis, drives the earlier onset of psychosis in cannabis users. Schizophr Bull, 40, 1509–1517.Google Scholar
Ellgren, M., Artmann, A., Tkalych, O., et al. (2008). Dynamic changes of the endogenous cannabinoid and opioid mesocorticolimbic systems during adolescence: THC effects. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol, 18, 826–834.Google Scholar
Epstein, K. A., and Kumra, S. (2015). Altered cortical maturation in adolescent cannabis users with and without schizophrenia. Schizophr Res, 162, 143–152.Google Scholar
Freeman, T. P., and Winstock, A. R. (2015). Examining the profile of high-potency cannabis and its association with severity of cannabis dependence. Psychol Med, 45, 3181–3189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilman, J. M., Kuster, J. K., Lee, S., et al. (2014). Cannabis use is quantitatively associated with nucleus accumbens and amygdala abnormalities in young adult recreational users. J Neurosci, 34, 5529–5538.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hasin, D. S., Saha, T. D., Kerridge, B. T., et al. (2015). Prevalence of marijuana use disorders in the United States between 2001–2002 and 2012–2013. JAMA Psychiatry, 72, 1235–1242.Google Scholar
Hasin, D. S., Shmulewitz, D., and Sarvet, A. L. (2019). Time trends in US cannabis use and cannabis use disorders overall and by sociodemographic subgroups: A narrative review and new findings. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse, 45, 623–643.Google Scholar
Heng, L., Beverley, J. A., Steiner, H., et al. (2011). Differential developmental trajectories for CB1 cannabinoid receptor expression in limbic/associative and sensorimotor cortical areas. Synapse, 65, 278–286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hines, L. A., Freeman, T. P., Gage, S. H., et al. (2020). Association of high-potency cannabis use with mental health and substance use in adolescence. JAMA Psychiatry, 77, 1044–1051.Google Scholar
Hosseini, S., and Oremus, M. (2019). The effect of age of initiation of cannabis use on psychosis, depression, and anxiety among youth under 25 years. Can J Psychiatry, 64, 304–312.Google Scholar
Houck, J. M., Bryan, A. D., and Feldstein Ewing, S. W. (2013). Functional connectivity and cannabis use in high-risk adolescents. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse, 39, 414–423.Google Scholar
Johnston, L. D., Miech, R. A., O’Malley, P. M., et al. (2021). Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use 1975–2020: Overview, Key Findings on Adolescent Drug Use. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.Google Scholar
Knapp, A. A., Lee, D. C., Borodovsky, J. T., et al. (2019). Emerging trends in cannabis administration among adolescent cannabis users. J Adolesc Health, 64, 487–493.Google Scholar
Kumra, S., Robinson, P., Tambyraja, R., et al. (2012). Parietal lobe volume deficits in adolescents with schizophrenia and adolescents with cannabis use disorders. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 51, 171–180.Google Scholar
Leos-Toro, C., Rynard, V., Murnaghan, D., et al. (2019). Trends in cannabis use over time among Canadian youth: 2004–2014. Prev Med, 118, 30–37.Google Scholar
Lichenstein, S. D., Musselman, S., Shaw, D. S., et al. (2017). Nucleus accumbens functional connectivity at age 20 is associated with trajectory of adolescent cannabis use and predicts psychosocial functioning in young adulthood. Addiction, 112, 1961–1970.Google Scholar
Lopez-Larson, M. P., Bogorodzki, P., Rogowska, J., et al. (2011). Altered prefrontal and insular cortical thickness in adolescent marijuana users. Behav Brain Res, 220, 164–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maccarrone, M., Guzman, M., Mackie, K., et al. (2014). Programming of neural cells by (endo)cannabinoids: From physiological rules to emerging therapies. Nat Rev Neurosci, 15, 786–801.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, R. J. (2018). Toward a translationally relevant preclinical model of cannabis use. Neuropsychopharmacology, 43, 213.Google Scholar
Mechoulam, R., Hanus, L. O., Pertwee, R., et al. (2014). Early phytocannabinoid chemistry to endocannabinoids and beyond. Nat Rev Neurosci, 15, 757–764.Google Scholar
Miladinovic, T., Manwell, L. A., Raaphorst, E., et al. (2020). Effects of chronic nicotine exposure on Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-induced locomotor activity and neural activation in male and female adolescent and adult rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav, 194, 172931.Google Scholar
Miller, M. L., Chadwick, B., Dickstein, D. L., et al. (2019). Adolescent exposure to Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol alters the transcriptional trajectory and dendritic architecture of prefrontal pyramidal neurons. Mol Psychiatry, 24, 588–600.Google Scholar
Moore, C. F., Davis, C. M., Harvey, E. L., et al. (2021). Appetitive, antinociceptive, and hypothermic effects of vaped and injected Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in rats: Exposure and dose-effect comparisons by strain and sex. Pharmacol Biochem Behav, 202, 173116.Google Scholar
Orr, C., Morioka, R., Behan, B., et al. (2013). Altered resting-state connectivity in adolescent cannabis users. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse, 39, 372–381.Google Scholar
Orr, C., Spechler, P., Cao, Z., et al. (2019). Grey matter volume differences associated with extremely low levels of cannabis use in adolescence. J Neurosci, 39, 1817–1827.Google Scholar
Padula, C. B., Schweinsburg, A. D., and Tapert, S. F. (2007). Spatial working memory performance and fMRI activation interaction in abstinent adolescent marijuana users. Psychol Addict Behav, 21, 478–487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peters, E. N., Bae, D., Barrington-Trimis, J. L., et al. (2018). Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of adolescent use and polyuse of combustible, vaporized, and edible cannabis products. JAMA Netw Open, 1, e182765.Google Scholar
Pope, H. G., Gruber, A. J., Hudson, J. I., et al. (2003). Early-onset cannabis use and cognitive deficits: What is the nature of the association? Drug Alcohol Depend, 69, 303–310.Google Scholar
Rais, M., Van Haren, N. E., Cahn, W., et al. (2010). Cannabis use and progressive cortical thickness loss in areas rich in CB1 receptors during the first five years of schizophrenia. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol, 20, 855–865.Google Scholar
Renard, J., Rushlow, W. J., and Laviolette, S. R. (2016). What can rats tell us about adolescent cannabis exposure? Insights from preclinical research. Can J Psychiatry, 61, 328–334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Renard, J., Szkudlarek, H. J., Kramar, C. P., et al. (2017). Adolescent THC exposure causes enduring prefrontal cortical disruption of GABAergic inhibition and dysregulation of sub-cortical dopamine function. Sci Rep, 7, 11420.Google Scholar
Rodriguez de Fonseca, F., Ramos, J. A., Bonnin, A., et al. (1993). Presence of cannabinoid binding sites in the brain from early postnatal ages. Neuroreport, 4, 135–138.Google Scholar
Rubino, T., and Parolaro, D. (2008). Long lasting consequences of cannabis exposure in adolescence. Mol Cell Endocrinol, 286, S108–113.Google Scholar
Ruiz, C. M., Torrens, A., Castillo, E., et al. (2021a). Pharmacokinetic, behavioral, and brain activity effects of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol in adolescent male and female rats. Neuropsychopharmacology, 46, 959–969.Google Scholar
Ruiz, C. M., Torrens, A., Lallai, V., et al. (2021b). Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of aerosolized (‘vaped’) THC in adolescent male and female rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 238, 3595–3605.Google Scholar
Saravia, R., Ten-Blanco, M., Julia-Hernandez, M., et al. (2019). Concomitant THC and stress adolescent exposure induces impaired fear extinction and related neurobiological changes in adulthood. Neuropharmacology, 144, 345–357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulenberg, J. E., Merline, A. C., Johnston, L. D., et al. (2005). Trajectories of marijuana use during the transition to adulthood: The big picture based on national panel data. J Drug Issues, 35, 255–279.Google Scholar
Schweinsburg, A. D., Schweinsburg, B. C., Medina, K. L., et al. (2010). The influence of recency of use on fMRI response during spatial working memory in adolescent marijuana users. J Psychoactive Drugs, 42, 401–412.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, J. C., Rosen, A. F. G., Moore, T. M., et al. (2019). Cannabis use in youth is associated with limited alterations in brain structure. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44, 1362–1369.Google Scholar
Spechler, P. A., Orr, C. A., Chaarani, B., et al. (2015). Cannabis use in early adolescence: Evidence of amygdala hypersensitivity to signals of threat. Dev Cogn Neurosci, 16, 63–70.Google Scholar
Tapert, S. F., Schweinsburg, A. D., Drummond, S. P., et al. (2007) Functional MRI of inhibitory processing in abstinent adolescent marijuana users. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 194, 173–183.Google Scholar
Taylor, M., Collin, S. M., Munafo, M. R., et al. (2017). Patterns of cannabis use during adolescence and their association with harmful substance use behaviour: Findings from a UK birth cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health, 71, 764–770.Google Scholar
Tervo-Clemmens, B., Simmonds, D., Calabro, F. J., et al. (2018). Early cannabis use and neurocognitive risk: A prospective functional neuroimaging study. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging, 3, 713–725.Google Scholar
Van Speybroeck, L. (2002). From epigenesis to epigenetics: The case of C. H. Waddington. Ann NY Acad Sci, 981, 61–81.Google Scholar
Weiland, B. J., Thayer, R. E., Depue, B. E., et al. (2015). Daily marijuana use is not associated with brain morphometric measures in adolescents or adults. J Neurosci, 35, 1505–1512.Google Scholar
Yu, T., Jia, T., Zhu, L., et al. (2020). Cannabis-associated psychotic-like experiences are mediated by developmental changes in the parahippocampal gyrus. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 59, 642–649.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×