Cargando…

Longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users

BACKGROUND: Cannabis exposure, particularly heavy cannabis use, has been associated with neuroanatomical alterations in regions rich with cannabinoid receptors such as the hippocampus in some but not in other (mainly cross-sectional) studies. However, it remains unclear whether continued heavy canna...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Koenders, L, Lorenzetti, V, de Haan, L, Suo, C, Vingerhoets, WAM, van den Brink, W, Wiers, RW, Meijer, CJ, Machielsen, MWJ, Goudriaan, AE, Veltman, DJ, Yücel, M, Cousijn, J
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5544121/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28741422
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881117718380
_version_ 1783255228295938048
author Koenders, L
Lorenzetti, V
de Haan, L
Suo, C
Vingerhoets, WAM
van den Brink, W
Wiers, RW
Meijer, CJ
Machielsen, MWJ
Goudriaan, AE
Veltman, DJ
Yücel, M
Cousijn, J
author_facet Koenders, L
Lorenzetti, V
de Haan, L
Suo, C
Vingerhoets, WAM
van den Brink, W
Wiers, RW
Meijer, CJ
Machielsen, MWJ
Goudriaan, AE
Veltman, DJ
Yücel, M
Cousijn, J
author_sort Koenders, L
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Cannabis exposure, particularly heavy cannabis use, has been associated with neuroanatomical alterations in regions rich with cannabinoid receptors such as the hippocampus in some but not in other (mainly cross-sectional) studies. However, it remains unclear whether continued heavy cannabis use alters hippocampal volume, and whether an earlier age of onset and/or a higher dosage exacerbate these changes. METHODS: Twenty heavy cannabis users (mean age 21 years, range 18–24 years) and 23 matched non-cannabis using healthy controls were submitted to a comprehensive psychological assessment and magnetic resonance imaging scan at baseline and at follow-up (average of 39 months post-baseline; standard deviation=2.4). Cannabis users started smoking around 16 years and smoked on average five days per week. A novel aspect of the current study is that hippocampal volume estimates were obtained from manual tracing the hippocampus on T1-weighted anatomical magnetic resonance imaging scans, using a previously validated protocol. RESULTS: Compared to controls, cannabis users did not show hippocampal volume alterations at either baseline or follow-up. Hippocampal volumes increased over time in both cannabis users and controls, following similar trajectories of increase. Cannabis dose and age of onset of cannabis use did not affect hippocampal volumes. CONCLUSIONS: Continued heavy cannabis use did not affect hippocampal neuroanatomical changes in early adulthood. This contrasts with prior evidence on alterations in this region in samples of older adult cannabis users. In young adults using cannabis at this level, cannabis use may not be heavy enough to affect hippocampal neuroanatomy.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5544121
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher SAGE Publications
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-55441212017-08-10 Longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users Koenders, L Lorenzetti, V de Haan, L Suo, C Vingerhoets, WAM van den Brink, W Wiers, RW Meijer, CJ Machielsen, MWJ Goudriaan, AE Veltman, DJ Yücel, M Cousijn, J J Psychopharmacol Original Papers BACKGROUND: Cannabis exposure, particularly heavy cannabis use, has been associated with neuroanatomical alterations in regions rich with cannabinoid receptors such as the hippocampus in some but not in other (mainly cross-sectional) studies. However, it remains unclear whether continued heavy cannabis use alters hippocampal volume, and whether an earlier age of onset and/or a higher dosage exacerbate these changes. METHODS: Twenty heavy cannabis users (mean age 21 years, range 18–24 years) and 23 matched non-cannabis using healthy controls were submitted to a comprehensive psychological assessment and magnetic resonance imaging scan at baseline and at follow-up (average of 39 months post-baseline; standard deviation=2.4). Cannabis users started smoking around 16 years and smoked on average five days per week. A novel aspect of the current study is that hippocampal volume estimates were obtained from manual tracing the hippocampus on T1-weighted anatomical magnetic resonance imaging scans, using a previously validated protocol. RESULTS: Compared to controls, cannabis users did not show hippocampal volume alterations at either baseline or follow-up. Hippocampal volumes increased over time in both cannabis users and controls, following similar trajectories of increase. Cannabis dose and age of onset of cannabis use did not affect hippocampal volumes. CONCLUSIONS: Continued heavy cannabis use did not affect hippocampal neuroanatomical changes in early adulthood. This contrasts with prior evidence on alterations in this region in samples of older adult cannabis users. In young adults using cannabis at this level, cannabis use may not be heavy enough to affect hippocampal neuroanatomy. SAGE Publications 2017-07-25 2017-08 /pmc/articles/PMC5544121/ /pubmed/28741422 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881117718380 Text en © The Author(s) 2017 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
spellingShingle Original Papers
Koenders, L
Lorenzetti, V
de Haan, L
Suo, C
Vingerhoets, WAM
van den Brink, W
Wiers, RW
Meijer, CJ
Machielsen, MWJ
Goudriaan, AE
Veltman, DJ
Yücel, M
Cousijn, J
Longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users
title Longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users
title_full Longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users
title_fullStr Longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users
title_full_unstemmed Longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users
title_short Longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users
title_sort longitudinal study of hippocampal volumes in heavy cannabis users
topic Original Papers
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5544121/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28741422
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881117718380
work_keys_str_mv AT koendersl longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT lorenzettiv longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT dehaanl longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT suoc longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT vingerhoetswam longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT vandenbrinkw longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT wiersrw longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT meijercj longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT machielsenmwj longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT goudriaanae longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT veltmandj longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT yucelm longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers
AT cousijnj longitudinalstudyofhippocampalvolumesinheavycannabisusers