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Cannabinoid modulation of subgenual anterior cingulate cortex activation during experience of negative affect

  • Biological Psychiatry - Short communication
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Abstract

Cannabinoids affect positive and negative affective experience and emotional perception, possibly by modulating limbic brain reactivity. In this double-blind crossover, placebo-controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging study in humans, an acute oral dose of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) attenuated subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) reactivity during the induction of negative affect. This observation extends prior findings implicating a cortico-limbic, emotion-related central mechanism underlying cannabinoid function.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the Brain Research Imaging Center at University of Chicago and National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants MH076198 (K.L.P.), DA024197 (K.L.P.), DA002812, and DA009133 (H.d.W.). The authors would like to acknowledge Jamie Golden for her assistance in participant recruitment, screening, and data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Rachel Upjohn Building, 4250 Plymouth Road, Box 5765, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2700, USA

    Christine A. Rabinak, Chandra Sekhar Sripada, Mike Angstadt & K. Luan Phan

  2. Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    K. Luan Phan

  3. Mental Health Service, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA

    Christine A. Rabinak & K. Luan Phan

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Harriet de Wit

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  1. Christine A. Rabinak
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  2. Chandra Sekhar Sripada
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  3. Mike Angstadt
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  4. Harriet de Wit
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  5. K. Luan Phan
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Correspondence to K. Luan Phan.

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Rabinak, C.A., Sripada, C.S., Angstadt, M. et al. Cannabinoid modulation of subgenual anterior cingulate cortex activation during experience of negative affect. J Neural Transm 119, 701–707 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-011-0747-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-011-0747-x

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