Regular cannabis use is associated with altered activation of central executive and default mode networks even after prolonged abstinence in adolescent users: results from a complementary meta-analysis

TY - JOUR

T1 - Regular cannabis use is associated with altered activation of central executive and default mode networks even after prolonged abstinence in adolescent users

T2 - results from a complementary meta-analysis

AU - Blest-Hopley, Grace

AU - Giampietro, Vincent

AU - Bhattacharyya, Sagnik

PY - 2019/1/1

Y1 - 2019/1/1

N2 - Whether the effects of cannabis use on brain function persist or recover following abstinence remains unclear. Therefore, using meta-analytic techniques, we examined whether functional alterations measured using fMRI persist in cannabis users abstinent for over 25 days (or 600 hours) as evidence suggests that the effects on cognitive performance no longer persist beyond this period. Systematic literature search identified 20 studies, of which, 12 examined current cannabis users (CCU) (361 CCU versus 394 non-cannabis using controls (NU)) and 3 examined abstinent cannabis users (ACU) in 5 separate comparisons (98 ACU versus 106 NU). Studies in ACU were carried out in adolescents and suggest significantly greater activation in components of the central executive and default mode networks in adolescent ACU compared to NU. While this evidence is to be interpreted with caution because studies were carried out in overlapping samples, they indicate a pressing need for independent confirmation whether certain neurofunctional alterations in adolescent cannabis users may persist even after cannabis and its metabolites are likely to have left their bodies.

AB - Whether the effects of cannabis use on brain function persist or recover following abstinence remains unclear. Therefore, using meta-analytic techniques, we examined whether functional alterations measured using fMRI persist in cannabis users abstinent for over 25 days (or 600 hours) as evidence suggests that the effects on cognitive performance no longer persist beyond this period. Systematic literature search identified 20 studies, of which, 12 examined current cannabis users (CCU) (361 CCU versus 394 non-cannabis using controls (NU)) and 3 examined abstinent cannabis users (ACU) in 5 separate comparisons (98 ACU versus 106 NU). Studies in ACU were carried out in adolescents and suggest significantly greater activation in components of the central executive and default mode networks in adolescent ACU compared to NU. While this evidence is to be interpreted with caution because studies were carried out in overlapping samples, they indicate a pressing need for independent confirmation whether certain neurofunctional alterations in adolescent cannabis users may persist even after cannabis and its metabolites are likely to have left their bodies.

KW - Cannabis

KW - THC

KW - Functional magnetic resonance imaging

KW - Meta-analysis

KW - Abstinence

U2 - 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.10.026

DO - 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.10.026

M3 - Article

SN - 0149-7634

VL - 96

SP - 45

EP - 55

JO - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

JF - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

IS - 0

ER -