Measuring white matter microstructure in 1,457 cannabis users and 1,441 controls: A systematic review of diffusion-weighted MRI studies.

Introduction: Cannabis is the most widely used regulated substance by youth and adults. Cannabis use has been associated with psychosocial problems, which have been partly ascribed to neurobiological changes. Emerging evidence to date from diffusion-MRI studies shows that cannabis users compared to controls show poorer integrity of white matter fibre tracts, which structurally connect distinct brain regions to facilitate neural communication.

Substance-Induced Psychoses: An Updated Literature Review.

On the current psychopharmacological panorama, the variety of substances able to provoke an episode of acute psychosis is rapidly increasing. Such psychotic episodes are classified according to the major category of symptoms: positive, negative, or cognitive psychotic episodes. On one hand, the abuse of methamphetamines, cannabis, and cocaine plays a big role in increasing the incidence of episodes resembling a psychotic disorder.

Sex differences in brain metabolites in anxiety and mood disorders.

Gender differences in mood and anxiety disorders are well-established. However, the neural basis of these differences is not clear yet, especially in terms of brain metabolism. Indeed, although several proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (¹H MRS) investigations reported different metabolic levels in both depression and anxiety disorders, which have been also linked to symptoms severity and response to treatment, the role of gender on these differences have not been explored yet.

Neurocognitive impact of ketamine treatment in major depressive disorder: A review on human and animal studies.

Background: Most recent evidence support a rapid and sustained antidepressant effect of subanesthetic dose of intravenous ketamine in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, clinical and animal studies investigating the effects of intravenous ketamine on specific functional domains disrupted by depression reported conflicting results. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide an overview of the recent findings exploring the cognitive effects of ketamine in depression.