“We found reduced thickness in a frontal brain region that supports executive functioning. While this study does not establish cause and effect, it adds to growing evidence that sustained heavy cannabis use may be associated with structural brain differences,” said lead author of the study, Ana Aquino-Servin, predoctoral researcher at FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Spain, in a press release.
For this study, researchers conducted MRI scans on 46 individuals with an average age of 31 who had used cannabis for over 10 years and consumed it daily for at least 5 years. They compared these scans to those of 46 adults matched in age, sex, and IQ who had used cannabis fewer than 10 times in their lifetime.
After controlling for potential confounders like standard drink units and excluding those with recent, sporadic use of cocaine, cannabis users were found to have reduced thickness in part of the prefrontal cortex known as the right rostral middle frontal cortex. No significant differences were observed in cortical volume or surface area between users and non-users.
The findings suggest that chronic cannabis use is linked to cortical thinning in the prefrontal cortex, concluded the researchers in their abstract. They added that more research is needed to know whether these changes relate to executive or other neuropsychological impairments reported by users.
“As cannabis policies and public attitudes evolve, robust imaging studies like this are important for informing public health discussions with objective data,” said Dr. Julian Beezhold, Secretary General of the European Psychiatric Association, not involved in the study, in a press release.
Sources: Press Release Hub
