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.
Researchers studying adolescent cannabis use, anyone interested in brain responses to cannabis cues, and prevention science.
Cannabis images activated reward and attention brain regions more than neutral images in teen users
What the researchers 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.
Why it 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 numbers in context
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 the study worked
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.
What this study cannot 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.
How to read the evidence
Preliminary: novel fMRI task validation study with small sample and no control group.
When this study was published
Published in 2019.
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.
Questions still open
- 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?
Common questions
Does seeing cannabis images trigger craving in the brain?
Why does this matter for teens?
Read the original research
Investigating a novel fMRI cannabis cue reactivity task in youth.
Addictive behaviors, 89, 20-28
Citation
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
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