Joint effects of stress and chronic cannabis use on prospective memory

Cuttler, Carrie; Spradlin, Alexander; Nusbaum, Amy T.; Whitney, Paul; Hinson, John M.; McLaughlin, Ryan J.

doi:10.1007/s00213-019-5184-9

Original Investigation
Published: 14 February 2019

Joint effects of stress and chronic cannabis use on prospective memory

Carrie Cuttler ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5890-2985^1,2,
Alexander Spradlin¹,
Amy T. Nusbaum¹,
Paul Whitney¹,
John M. Hinson¹ &
Ryan J. McLaughlin^1,2,3

Psychopharmacology volume 236, pages 1973–1983 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Rationale

Prospective memory pervades our daily lives and failures can have detrimental consequences. This ability to execute delayed intentions may be impacted by stress, yet few studies have examined these effects. Moreover, as many cannabis users report using cannabis to cope with stress, it is important to understand how stress impacts memory in cannabis users.

Objectives

We assessed the effects of acute and chronic stress on prospective memory to examine whether stress differentially impacts prospective memory in cannabis users vs. non-users.

Methods

Forty cannabis users and 42 non-users were assigned an episodic and a habitual prospective memory test before completing either the stress or no stress condition of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST). Participants were instructed to execute the habitual test during the MAST and the episodic test shortly after the MAST. Chronic stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale, and acute stress was measured using subjective ratings and cortisol.

Results

There was a main effect of acute stress indicating that stress detrimentally impacted habitual prospective memory performance. Although there was not a significant stress x cannabis interaction, further planned comparisons indicated the habitual prospective memory impairment was selective to cannabis users. There were also significant negative correlations between (i) episodic prospective memory and both subjective stress as well as chronic stress, and (ii) habitual prospective memory and change in subjective stress.

Conclusions

This study is the first to reveal detrimental effects of acute stress on prospective memory performance, which may be exacerbated in cannabis users.

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Fig. 1

Notes

Data pertaining to the stress response of this sample was previously published in Cuttler et al. (2017).
These tests are not further described in this manuscript and were administered after completion of all components of the study reported herein.
Only 5 participants (3 non-users, and 2 users) withdrew their hands before the completion of the trials.

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Funding

Washington State University’s Dedicated Marijuana Account funded this study using excised tax dollars from the sales of recreational cannabis.

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Authors and Affiliations

Department of Psychology, Washington State University, PO Box 644820, Pullman, WA, 99164-4820, USA
Carrie Cuttler, Alexander Spradlin, Amy T. Nusbaum, Paul Whitney, John M. Hinson & Ryan J. McLaughlin
Translational Addiction Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
Carrie Cuttler & Ryan J. McLaughlin
Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-7620, USA
Ryan J. McLaughlin

Authors

Carrie Cuttler
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Alexander Spradlin
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Amy T. Nusbaum
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Paul Whitney
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John M. Hinson
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Ryan J. McLaughlin
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Correspondence to Carrie Cuttler.

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Cuttler, C., Spradlin, A., Nusbaum, A.T. et al. Joint effects of stress and chronic cannabis use on prospective memory. Psychopharmacology 236, 1973–1983 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-5184-9

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Received: 21 September 2018
Accepted: 30 January 2019
Published: 14 February 2019
Issue Date: 01 June 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-5184-9

Keywords

Prospective memory
Cannabis
Acute stress
Chronic stress
Cortisol