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Structural Brain Alterations in Cannabis Users: Association with Cognitive Deficits and Psychiatric Symptoms

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Book cover The Handbook of Neuropsychiatric Biomarkers, Endophenotypes and Genes

Abstract

This chapter will review the evidence for structural brain alterations in cannabis users and consider this in the context of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. While previous research failed to identify structural brain abnormalities in human cannabis users, more recent studies using high resolution imaging techniques combined with more robust delineations of specifi c brain regions in very heavy cannabis users have revealed evidence of dose-related alterations in regions implicated in schizophrenia. Moreover, these regional brain volumetric reductions are of similar magnitude to those seen in schizophrenia. We discuss the association between cannabis use and the development of cognitive defi cits and psychiatric symptoms in relation to structural brain alterations. We propose that long term heavy cannabis use leads to structural brain changes and associated deleterious functional (cognitive and mental health) sequelae that resemble schizophrenia. These changes may occur not only in individuals who are vulnerable to the development of such disorders, but also in nonvulnerable individuals if cannabis is used heavily for prolonged periods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology and Illawarra Institute for Mental Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, and Affi liated Scientist, Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, Australia

    Nadia Solowij (Senior Lecturer)

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, National Neuroscience Facility, Melbourne, Australia

    Murat Yücel (Senior Lecturer and Clinical Neuropsychologist, Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre and ORYGEN Research Centre)

  3. Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Australia

    Valentina Lorenzetti (candidate, Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre)

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Dan I. Lubman (Associate Professor, ORYGEN Research Centre)

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  1. Nadia Solowij
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  2. Murat Yücel
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  3. Valentina Lorenzetti
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  4. Dan I. Lubman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa

    Michael S. Ritsner M.D., Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Technion) (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Technion)

  2. Sha'ar Menashe Mental Health Center, Hadera, Israel

    Michael S. Ritsner M.D., Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Technion) (Associate Professor of Psychiatry, the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Technion)

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Solowij, N., Yücel, M., Lorenzetti, V., Lubman, D.I. (2009). Structural Brain Alterations in Cannabis Users: Association with Cognitive Deficits and Psychiatric Symptoms. In: Ritsner, M.S. (eds) The Handbook of Neuropsychiatric Biomarkers, Endophenotypes and Genes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9831-4_10

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