Marijuana Dependence
Conditions
Keywords
marijuana, dependence, cognition, stress
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to explore sex differences in cognitive functioning and responses to marijuana-related items, and to determine whether stress impacts these measures. Hypothesis 1: Attentional bias will be greater for marijuana cues in male marijuana-dependent subjects relative to female marijuana-dependent or non-dependent male controls. Hypothesis 2: Marijuana-dependent females will exhibit greater stress-induced changes in attentional bias and cognitive functioning than marijuana-dependent males.
Detailed description
Ample evidence implicates both environmental cues and negative affective states in maintaining drug use or triggering relapse. However, although 'craving' is believed to drive continued drug use, it is not well understood how cognitive processes influence craving and relapse, nor how they may differ between the sexes. Therefore, the goal of this study protocol is to provide insight into sex differences in the cognitive aspects of drug craving and to assess the impact of stress on attentional bias for drug-related cues as well as on the availability of cognitive resources.
Interventions
OTHERCognitive stressor
The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT-C), has been modified for use as a computerized laboratory-based stressor. Single digits are presented, and the patient must add each new digit to the one immediately prior to it and click on the appropriate answer. Failure to do so in the allotted time results in a noxious error sound.
Sponsors
Medical University of South Carolina
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Inclusion criteria will include subjects between the ages of 18-65 who meet full DSM-IV criteria for marijuana dependence and non-dependent controls.
Exclusion criteria
*
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Primary outcome measures will be obtained from the auditory odd-ball task: differences while viewing the marijuana vs neutral video in reaction time (msec), errors of omission (%), and errors of commission (%). | ~ 3 hours |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Secondary measures include subjective (craving and stress), physiological (heart rate and skin conductance), and stress hormone level (cortisol) assessments. | ~ 3 hours |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed