The effects of synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) on brain structure and function

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Radiology

Background:

• Novel Psychoactive Substances, including synthetic cannabinoids (SC), are increasingly used globally.
• Synthetic cannabinoids are associated with high addiction potential and severe adverse health effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of chronic synthetic cannabinoid use on brain volume and function.
• To assess alterations in working memory and response inhibition neural mechanisms.

Main Methods:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans were performed on 15 chronic SC users and 15 healthy controls.
• Participants completed working memory (N-back) and response inhibition (Go-No-Go) tasks during MRI.

Main Results:

• SC users exhibited impaired performance on the N-back task but not the Go-No-Go task.
• Reduced total gray matter volume and specific cortical region reductions (e.g., frontal gyrus, insula, anterior cingulate cortex) were observed in SC users.
• Diminished brain activation during the N-back task was noted in SC users, particularly in regions like the precuneus, hippocampus, and cerebellum.

Conclusions:

• This is the first study to demonstrate overall reduced gray matter volume and specific regional reductions in chronic SC users.
• Findings indicate impaired neural mechanisms underlying working memory in SC users.
• Reduced gray matter density and diminished activation during working memory tasks suggest potential vulnerability of the frontal-parietal network in chronic SC users.