Cannabis cue-reactivity in cannabis use disorder: Diverging evidence in two distinct cannabis cultures.

Background: Cannabis policies and attitudes play a role in the development and presentation of cannabis use disorder (CUD), but it is unclear how these factors are related to biomarkers of addiction. The current study examined cross-cultural differences in cannabis attitudes, cannabis cue-reactivity in the brain and its associations with cannabis use measures and cannabis attitudes.

Design: Cross-sectional fMRI study.

Associations between hair-derived cannabinoid levels, self-reported use, and cannabis-related problems.

Rationale: As cannabis potency and cannabis use are increasing in newly legalized markets, it is increasingly important to measure and examine the effects of cannabinoid exposure.

Objectives: The current study aims to assess how hair-derived cannabinoid concentrations - offering insight into three-month cumulative exposure - are associated with common self-report measures of cannabis use and cannabis use-related problems.

Methods: 74 near-daily dependent cannabis users self-reported their quantity of cannabis use, cannabis use-related problems, and estimated cannabis potency.

Does nitrous oxide addiction exist? An evaluation of the evidence for the presence and prevalence of substance use disorder symptoms in recreational nitrous oxide users.

Background: Prevalence of nitrous oxide (N O) use appears to be increasing in numerous countries worldwide, and excessive use has been associated with physical and mental problems. Because there currently is no consensus whether N O has addictive potential, we aimed to evaluate the evidence for the presence and prevalence of DSM-5 substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms in N O users.

Analysis: A literature search was conducted to assess the evidence for the presence of any of the 11 DSM-5 SUD symptoms in N O users and the prevalence experiencing those symptoms.

A cross-cultural fMRI investigation of cannabis approach bias in individuals with cannabis use disorder.

Introduction: As cannabis policies and attitudes become more permissive, it is crucial to examine how the legal and social environment influence neurocognitive mechanisms underlying cannabis use disorder (CUD). The current study aimed to assess whether cannabis approach bias, one of the mechanisms proposed to underlie CUD, differed between environments with distinct recreational cannabis policies (Amsterdam, The Netherlands (NL) and Dallas, Texas, United States of America (TX)) and whether individual differences in cannabis attitudes affect those differences.

Methods: Individuals with CUD (NL-CUD: 64; TX-CUD: 48) and closely matched non-using controls (NL-CON: 50; TX-CON: 36) completed a cannabis approach avoidance task (CAAT) in a 3T MRI.

Alcohol cue reactivity in the brain: Age-related differences in the role of social processes in addiction in male drinkers.

Social attunement (SA)-the tendency to harmonize behavior with the social environment-has been proposed to drive the escalation of alcohol use in adolescence, while reducing use in adulthood. Little is known about how heightened social sensitivity in adolescence may interact with neural alcohol cue reactivity-a marker of alcohol use disorder-and its relationship to alcohol use severity over time. The aims of this study were to test whether (1) adolescents and adults differ in social alcohol cue reactivity in the nucleus accumbens, anterior cingulate cortex, and right medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and (2) age moderates the relationship between social alcohol cue reactivity and social attunement, measures of drinking at baseline, and changes in drinking over time.

Development and Validation of the Dutch Social Attunement Questionnaire (SAQ).

The social plasticity hypothesis proposes that i.e., the adaptation to and harmonization with one's environment, plays a crucial role in the risk for developing alcohol use disorders (AUDs) during adolescence, whereas in adulthood it paradoxically may make individuals more sensitive to the social pull to reduce drinking.

Working memory-related brain activity in cannabis use disorder: The role of cross-cultural differences in cannabis attitudes.

Cannabis legislation and attitudes towards use are changing. Given that evidence from cultural neuroscience research suggests that culture influences the neurobiological mechanisms underlying behaviour, it is of great importance to understand how cannabis legislation and attitudes might affect the brain processes underlying cannabis use disorder. Brain activity of 100 dependent cannabis users and 84 controls was recorded during an N-back working memory (WM) task in participants from the Netherlands (NL; users = 60, controls = 52) and Texas, USA (TX; users = 40, controls = 32).

Cannabis Use Disorder Symptoms in Weekly Cannabis Users: A Network Comparison Between Daily Cigarette Users and Nondaily Cigarette Users.

Concurrent use (co-use) of cannabis and tobacco is common and associated with worse clinical outcomes compared with cannabis use only. The mechanisms and interactions of cannabis use disorder (CUD) symptoms underlying co-use remain poorly understood. We examined differences in the symptom presence and symptom network configurations between weekly cannabis users who use tobacco daily (co-users, =789) or non- or nondaily (nondaily co-users, =428).

Direct Effects of Cannabis Intoxication on Motivations for Softer and Harder Drug Use: An Experimental Approach to the Gateway Hypothesis.

This study experimentally tested whether there is a gateway-type effect of cannabis administration on tobacco and cocaine motivation and whether motivational responses predicted use 6 months later. A 2 (condition: active cannabis vs. placebo joint)×3 (substance stimulus type: tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine) factor within-subjects design for both implicit and explicit motivation.

Gender differences in cannabis use disorder symptoms: A network analysis.

Background: While cannabis use in women is increasing worldwide, research into gender differences in cannabis use disorder (CUD) symptomology is lacking. In response to limited effectiveness of addiction treatment, research focus has been shifting from clinical diagnoses towards interactions between symptoms, as patterns of symptoms and their interactions could be crucial in understanding etiological mechanisms in addiction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the CUD symptom network and assess whether there are gender differences therein.

The who and how of attentional bias in cannabis users: associations with use severity, craving and interference control.

Aims: Cognitive and motivational processes are thought to underlie cannabis use disorder (CUD), but research assessing how cognitive processes [e.g. interference control (IC)] interact with implicit [e.

Age-related differences in the effect of chronic alcohol on cognition and the brain: a systematic review.

Adolescence is an important developmental period associated with increased risk for excessive alcohol use, but also high rates of recovery from alcohol use-related problems, suggesting potential resilience to long-term effects compared to adults. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the current evidence for a moderating role of age on the impact of chronic alcohol exposure on the brain and cognition. We searched Medline, PsycInfo, and Cochrane Library databases up to February 3, 2021.

The role of sex in the association between cannabis use and working memory-related brain activity.

Although cannabis use patterns differ between men and women, studies on sex differences on the effects of cannabis on the brain and cognitive control are largely lacking. Working memory (WM) is a component of cognitive control believed to be involved in the development and maintenance of addiction. In this study, we evaluated the association between cannabis use and WM (load) related brain activity in a large sample, enabling us to assess sex effects in this association.

Associations between cannabis use, cannabis use disorder, and mood disorders: longitudinal, genetic, and neurocognitive evidence.

Rationale: Cannabis use among people with mood disorders increased in recent years. While comorbidity between cannabis use, cannabis use disorder (CUD), and mood disorders is high, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate (1) the epidemiological evidence for an association between cannabis use, CUD, and mood disorders; (2) prospective longitudinal, genetic, and neurocognitive evidence of underlying mechanisms; and (3) prognosis and treatment options for individuals with CUD and mood disorders.

Context dependent differences in working memory related brain activity in heavy cannabis users.

Rationale: Compromised cognitive control in cannabis use-tempting situations is thought to play a key role in the development of cannabis use disorders. However, little is known about how exposure to cannabis cues and contexts may influence cognitive control and the underlying neural mechanisms in cannabis users.

Objectives: Working memory (WM) is an attention reliant executive function central to cognitive control.

For better or for worse? A pre-post exploration of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on cannabis users.

Background And Aims: Lockdown measures aimed at limiting the number of infections and deaths from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have introduced substantial psychosocial stressors in everyday life. We aimed to investigate the influence of the Dutch lockdown on cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) and investigate relations with change in mental wellbeing and experienced psychosocial stressors during the lockdown.

Design: Explorative longitudinal baseline-, pre- and during lockdown survey study.

The short-term and long-term effects of cannabis on cognition: recent advances in the field.

The aim of this review is to discuss the most recent evidence for the short-term and long-term effects of cannabis on cognition. The evidence that cannabis intoxication is associated with short-term impairment across several basal cognitive domains, including learning and (episodic) memory, attentional control, and motor inhibition is increasing. However, evidence regarding the effects of long-term heavy cannabis use on cognition remains equivocal.

Unraveling the role of cigarette use in neural cannabis cue reactivity in heavy cannabis users.

Cue reactivity is an important biomarker of cannabis use disorder (CUD). Despite high rates of cigarette and cannabis co-use, its role in cannabis cue reactivity remains unclear. Using a visual functional magnetic resonance imaging cue reactivity paradigm, we investigated interactive effects of cannabis and cigarette use on cannabis cue relative to cigarette and neutral cue reactivity in a priori regions of interest-the amygdala, striatum, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), ventral tegmental area (VTA), and orbitofrontal cortex-and a whole-brain analysis.

Heavy cannabis use, dependence and the brain: a clinical perspective.

Aims: To summarize and evaluate our knowledge of the relationship between heavy cannabis use, cannabis use disorder (CUD) and the brain.

Methods: Narrative review of relevant literature identified through existing systematic reviews, meta-analyses and a PubMed search. Epidemiology, clinical representations, potential causal mechanisms, assessments, treatment and prognosis are discussed.

Age-related differences in the impact of cannabis use on the brain and cognition: a systematic review.

The impact of cannabis on the adolescent compared to adult brain is of interest to researchers and society alike. From a theoretical perspective, adolescence represents a period of both risk and resilience to the harms of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders. The aim of this systematic review is to provide a critical examination of the moderating role of age on the relationship between cannabis use and cognition.