Heavy and Chronic Cannabis Addiction does not Impact Motor Function: A BOLD-fMRI Study

The goal of this to demonstrate the impact of heavy and chronic cannabis use on brain potential functional control, reorganization, and plasticity in the cortical area.

23 cannabis users were convened in 3 groups of users. The first group included 11 volunteers with an average of 15 joins/day; the second group included 6 volunteers with an average of 1.5 joins/day; the third group included 6 volunteers with an average of 2.8 joins/week. Besides, 6 healthy volunteers in the control group, All healthy and cannabis users underwent identical brain BOLD-fMRI assessments of their motor function. Besides, neuropsychological and full biological assessments were achieved.

BOLD-fMRI maps of motor areas were obtained, including quantitative evaluation of the activations in the motor area. A statistical analysis of various groups was achieved.

Groups of chronic cannabis addiction of varying level of use were setup. Namely heavy, moderate and low users groups; doses have been shown to have systematically equivalent effects on the control of brain motor function. Indeed, the BOLD-fMRI shows a remarkable sensitivity to brain plasticity and reorganization of the functional motor control of the studied cortical area, and such variation was not shown. Specific elucidation of the effect of cannabis effect in this unique function should clarify further protective pharmacological effects. This might illuminate the use of neuronal resources to prepare processes for pharmacological use and pharmaceutical forms. This suggests exploring any potential cannabis pharmaceutical form in diseases involving motor impairments.