Cannabis-using teens showed heightened brain activity to cannabis images in reward and attention regions
In fMRI scanning, 41 cannabis-using youth showed greater brain activation to cannabis images versus neutral images in regions underlying reward, incentive salience, and visual attention.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Cannabis-using youth showed greater whole-brain activation to cannabis cues compared to non-cannabis cues in brain regions underlying incentive salience, reward, and visual attention. Cannabis images were rated as more rewarding than matched non-cannabis images. No differences were found for active versus passive cue contrasts.
Key Numbers
41 youth, ages 17-21, 46.3% female. Cannabis cues rated more rewarding than non-cannabis cues. Greater activation in reward, incentive salience, and visual attention regions. No active vs passive cue differences.
How They Did This
fMRI study of 41 non-treatment-seeking cannabis-using youth (ages 17-21, 46.3% female) viewing visual cannabis and matched non-cannabis cues during scanning, with self-report and biological substance use measures.
Why This Research Matters
This is the first US adolescent fMRI study of cannabis cue reactivity. Heightened reward-region activation to cannabis images may reflect the neural basis for cue-triggered craving and relapse, offering a potential biomarker and intervention target.
The Bigger Picture
Cue reactivity is well-established in alcohol and tobacco research but understudied for cannabis, especially in teens. If cannabis cues activate the same reward circuits in adolescents, the same intervention approaches (cue exposure therapy, bias modification) might apply.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
No control group of non-cannabis-using youth. Small sample. Cross-sectional design cannot determine whether heightened reactivity causes continued use or results from it. Non-treatment-seeking sample.
Questions This Raises
- ?Does cannabis cue reactivity predict who will develop problematic use?
- ?Could interventions that reduce cue reactivity prevent cannabis use escalation in youth?
- ?How does cue reactivity change with abstinence?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Cannabis images activated reward and attention brain regions more than neutral images in teen users
- Evidence Grade:
- Preliminary: novel fMRI task validation study with small sample and no control group.
- Study Age:
- Published in 2019.
- Original Title:
- Investigating a novel fMRI cannabis cue reactivity task in youth.
- Published In:
- Addictive behaviors, 89, 20-28 (2019)
- Authors:
- Karoly, Hollis C(8), Schacht, Joseph P(3), Meredith, Lindsay R(3), Jacobus, Joanna, Tapert, Susan F, Gray, Kevin M, Squeglia, Lindsay M
- Database ID:
- RTHC-02095
Evidence Hierarchy
A snapshot of a population at one point in time.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Does seeing cannabis images trigger craving in the brain?
This study found cannabis-using youth showed heightened brain activation in reward and attention regions when viewing cannabis images compared to matched neutral images, suggesting a neural basis for cue-triggered craving.
Why does this matter for teens?
If cannabis cues activate reward circuits in adolescent brains, environmental exposure to cannabis imagery and products after legalization could maintain or increase use by repeatedly triggering these neural reward responses.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-02095APA
Karoly, Hollis C; Schacht, Joseph P; Meredith, Lindsay R; Jacobus, Joanna; Tapert, Susan F; Gray, Kevin M; Squeglia, Lindsay M. (2019). Investigating a novel fMRI cannabis cue reactivity task in youth.. Addictive behaviors, 89, 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.09.015
MLA
Karoly, Hollis C, et al. "Investigating a novel fMRI cannabis cue reactivity task in youth.." Addictive behaviors, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.09.015
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Investigating a novel fMRI cannabis cue reactivity task in y..." RTHC-02095. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/karoly-2019-investigating-a-novel-fmri
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.