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How do cannabis users mentally travel in time? Evidence from an fMRI study of episodic future thinking

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Abstract

Rationale

Episodic future thinking (EFT) is a cognitive function that allows individuals to imagine novel experiences that may happen in the future. Prior studies show that EFT is impaired in different groups of substance users. However, there is no evidence regarding the neurobiological mechanisms of EFT in cannabis users.

Objectives

We aimed to compare brain activations of regular cannabis users and non-using controls during an EFT fMRI task. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to investigate the association between EFT and cannabis use variables (e.g., duration of use, age onset, frequency of use).

Methods

Twenty current cannabis users and 22 drug-naïve controls underwent an fMRI scanning session while completing a task involving envisioning future-related events and retrieval of past memories as a control condition. The EFT fMRI task was adapted from the autobiographical interview and composed of 20 auditory cue sentences (10 cues for past and 10 cues for future events). Participants were asked to recall a past or generate a future event, in response to the cues, and then rate their vividness after each response.

Results

We found that cannabis users compared to non-user controls had lower activation within the cerebellum, medial and superior temporal gyrus, lateral occipital cortex, and occipital fusiform gyrus while envisioning future events. Cannabis users rated the vividness of past events significantly lower than non-users (P < 0.005). There were marginal group differences for rating the vividness of future events (P = 0.052). Significant correlations were also found between the medial and superior temporal gyrus activities and behavioral measures of EFT and episodic memory.

Conclusions

Cannabis users, compared to drug-naïve controls, have lower brain activation in EFT relevant regions. Thus, any attempts to improve aberrant EFT performance in cannabis users may benefit from EFT training.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Brain Mapping Lab (NBML) for their excellent services, and Minoo Sisakhti, who kindly assisted with the fMRI task design and data analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Parnian Rafei & Javad Hatami

  2. Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Sciences Studies (ICSS), Tehran, Iran

    Tara Rezapour

  3. Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies, School of Advanced Medical Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Seyed Amir Hossein Batouli

  4. Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Antonio Verdejo-García

  5. Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioral & Health Sciences, Neuroscience of Addiction and Mental Health Program, Australian Catholic University, Victoria, Australia

    Valentina Lorenzetti

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  1. Parnian Rafei
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  4. Antonio Verdejo-García
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Contributions

PR, TR, JH, and SAHB designed the study. PR managed the literature searches. PR and SAHB contributed to fMRI data acquisition and analyses. PR and TR undertook the statistical analyses, and PR, TR, and VL wrote the first draft of the manuscript. AVG and JH supervised the interpretations of the findings and discussion of approach. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Javad Hatami.

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Rafei, P., Rezapour, T., Batouli, S.A.H. et al. How do cannabis users mentally travel in time? Evidence from an fMRI study of episodic future thinking. Psychopharmacology 239, 1441–1457 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-021-06002-7

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