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Residual Effects of Cannabis Use on Effort-Based Decision-Making

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2021

Mackenzie B. Taylor Open the ORCID record for Mackenzie B. Taylor [Opens in a new window]  and
Francesca M. Filbey
Mackenzie B. Taylor
Affiliation:
Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA
Francesca M. Filbey*
Affiliation:
Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, USA
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Francesca M. Filbey, PhD, Center for Brain Health, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2200 West Mockingbird, Dallas, TX75235, USA. Email: Francesca.Filbey@utdallas.edu
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Abstract

Objective:

Acute Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) administration in humans (Lawn etal., 2016) and rats (Silveira, Adams, Morena, Hill, & Winstanley, 2016) has been associated with decreased effort allocation that may explain amotivation during acute cannabis intoxication. To date, however, whether residual effects of cannabis use on effort-based decision-making are present and observable in humans have not yet been determined. The goal of this study was to test whether prolonged cannabis use has residual effects on effort-based decision-making in 24-hr abstinent cannabis using adults.

Method:

We evaluated performance on the Effort Expenditure for Reward Task (EEfRT) in 41 adult cannabis users (mean age = 24.63 years, 21 males) and 45 nonusers (mean age = 23.90 years, 19 males). A mixed 2x3x3 ANOVA with age as a covariate was performed to examine the effect of group, probability of winning, and reward amount on EEfRT performance. EEfRT performance was operationalized as % of trials for which the hard (vs. easy) condition was chosen. Pearson’s correlations were conducted to test the relationship between EEfRT performance and measures of cannabis use, anhedonia and motivation.

Results:

We found that cannabis users selected hard trials significantly more than nonusers regardless of win probability or reward level. Frequency of cannabis use was positively correlated with amount of % hard trials chosen. There were no significant correlations between % hard trials chosen, self-reported anhedonia, or motivation.

Conclusions:

These results suggest that unlike acute effects, residual effects of cannabis following 24 hrs of abstinence are associated with greater effort allocation during effort-based decision-making.

Keywords

Decision-makingPhysical effortMotivationExecutive functionCannabis use disorderAddictive behavior
Type
Regular Research
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 27 , Special Issue 6: Clarifying the Complexities of Cannabis and Cognition , July 2021 , pp. 559 - 569
Copyright
Copyright © INS. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2021

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