Trauma reminders increased cannabis craving by activating reward circuits in the brain | Research

The takeaway

Trauma-related cues increased cannabis craving and altered functional connectivity in reward brain circuits among cannabis users with trauma histories, suggesting a neural mechanism linking trauma to problematic cannabis use.

PTSD and trauma researchers, addiction neuroscientists, and clinicians treating co-occurring trauma and cannabis use disorders.

Trauma cues increased both cannabis craving and striatal reward circuit activity

What the researchers found

Trauma cues increased cannabis craving and negative affect while decreasing positive affect. In the brain, trauma cues increased connectivity within the striatum and between striatal-cortical regions. Cannabis cues increased cortical and corticolimbic connectivity.

Why it matters

Many trauma survivors use cannabis to cope, which can develop into problematic use. This study provides the first neural evidence for how trauma reminders might hijack reward circuits to drive cannabis craving.

The numbers in context

27 cannabis users (74.1% female, mean age 32.2). Trauma cues increased craving and negative affect vs other cues. Trauma cues increased striatal and striatocortical FC. Cannabis cues increased cortical and corticolimbic FC. Both differed from neutral cues.

How the study worked

Randomized crossover fMRI study in 27 cannabis users with trauma histories, using personalized audiovisual cues (trauma, cannabis, neutral) during brain scanning, with self-reported craving and affect measures.

What this study cannot tell us

Small sample of 27 participants. Not limited to diagnosed PTSD or cannabis use disorder, so findings may not apply to clinical populations. Cross-sectional design cannot establish whether altered connectivity predates or follows cannabis use.

How to read the evidence

Novel fMRI study with personalized cues and within-subjects design, but small sample and non-clinical population limit generalizability.

When this study was published

Published in 2025, data collected 2021-2022.

The bigger picture

Understanding the neural link between trauma and substance craving could inform treatments that target reward circuit dysregulation, potentially helping trauma survivors who use cannabis problematically.

Questions still open

Would trauma-focused therapy normalize these reward circuit alterations? Do these connectivity patterns predict who will develop cannabis use disorder after trauma?

Common questions

Why do trauma survivors crave cannabis when triggered?

This brain imaging study found that trauma reminders activated reward circuits (striatum and cortex) in cannabis users, suggesting that trauma cues directly engage the brain's reward system to generate craving.

Does trauma make cannabis use worse?

This study provides neural evidence that trauma cues increase cannabis craving by altering reward circuit connectivity, which could explain why trauma survivors are at higher risk for developing problematic cannabis use.

Read the original research

Trauma and cannabis cue-induced reward circuit functional connectivity in cannabis users with trauma histories.

Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN, 50(4), E237-E247

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Ethier-Gagnon, Mikaela A; DeGrace, Sarah; Romero-Sanchiz, Pablo; Helmick, Carl A; Tibbo, Philip G; Crocker, Candice E; Good, Kimberly; Rudnick, Abraham; Cosman, Tessa; Barrett, Sean P; Stewart, Sherry H. (2025). Trauma and cannabis cue-induced reward circuit functional connectivity in cannabis users with trauma histories.. Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN, 50(4), E237-E247. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.250064