Decision Making and Impulsivity in Young Adult Cannabis Users

Abstract

Aims: Chronic cannabis users show impairments on laboratory measures of decision making which reflect risk factors for initiation and continued use of cannabis. However, the differential sensitivity of these tasks to cannabis use has not been established. Moreover, studies to date have often lacked assessment of psychiatric histories and use of other illicit substances, both of which may influence decision making outcomes. The current study aimed to address these limitations by (1) including multiple types of decision making tasks, (2) implementing the Probabilistic Reversal Learning Task, a measure of decision making under uncertainty, for the first time in cannabis users, (3) including young adult cannabis users with no other psychiatric disorders, and (4) conducting urinalysis to exclude users of other illicit drugs.Methods: Thirty-three current cannabis users without comorbid psychiatric disorders and 35 cannabis non-users completed behavioral measures of decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task), reward discounting (Delay Discounting Task), choice-outcome learning (the Probabilistic Reversal Learning Task) and a questionnaire assessment of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale).Results: Relative to non-users, cannabis users demonstrated greater preference for immediate vs. delayed rewards on the Delay Discounting Task, made fewer advantageous decisions on the Iowa Gambling Task, and endorsed greater impulsivity on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale scales. Cannabis users and non-users showed comparable performance on the Probabilistic Reversal Learning Task. Frequency of past-month cannabis use and total years of use did not predict decision making or impulsivity.Conclusions: Young adult cannabis users demonstrated higher discounting rates and impairments in learning cost-benefit contingencies, while reversal learning was unaffected. Self-reported impulsivity was elevated as well. None of these measures correlated with current or lifetime estimates of cannabis use, arguing against a dose-relationship. Interventions that target improvement in affected components of decision making may be helpful in reducing cannabis use and relapse.

Adolescent self-administration of the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist JWH-018 induces neurobiological and behavioral alterations in adult male mice

“…Although in this study we did not evaluate the predictive validity of the model by testing anti-compulsive and/or anxiolytic drugs, our previous investigations (Pintori et al 2021) and the phenotypes observed in the nestlet shredding test indicate that the heightened marble burying activity of JWH-018treated mice likely reflects repetitive/compulsive-like rather than anxiety-like states. Previous studies have reported that chronic use of Cannabis is associated with increased risk-taking as well as impulsive behavior and poor inhibitory control (Lane et al 2005;Wrege et al 2014), both in adolescent and young adult individuals (Claus et al 2018;O'Donnell et al 2021). To evaluate the risk propensity of JWH-018 exposed mice, we tested them on the wire-beam bridge, a reliable test able to assess risk-taking behavior in both rats and mice, and particularly susceptible to pharmacological manipulations of the dopamine (Bortolato et al 2009;Frau et al 2017;Frau et al 2019;Festucci et al 2021) and cannabinoid systems (Frau et al 2019).…”

Examining Risk Factors in the Cannabis–Suicide Link: Considering Trauma and Impulsivity among University Students

“…While some studies indicated that impulsivity is not directly associated with problematic cannabis use [ 30 ], others suggested that impulsivity may instead be a distal factor in the cannabis–suicide relationship, contributing to the development of suicidal ideation but not the transition from ideation to attempt [ 7 ]. Yet, evidence of exacerbated impulsivity has been consistently linked with problematic cannabis use [ 32 ] and might mediate the transition from SI to SA [ 33 ]. The processes leading to impulsivity could be attributed to several factors, including stressor-provoked neurochemical changes [ 34 ].…”

The relationship between cannabis use and taurine: A MRS and metabolomics study

“…Participants completed a battery of assessments including the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR (SCID-IV-TR), Research Version [ 28 ]; a written drug use questionnaire [ 29 , 30 ]; a six-month timeline follow back assessment to estimate current and past use of CB and alcohol; the short Michigan alcohol screening test (SMAST); and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI [ 31 ]). The control subjects had no history of substance dependence, a negative urine screen for CB and other substances, and no use of CB in the past three months.…”