EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This is a pilot study of (N=30) young adult (18-24) marijuana users and non-using controls. This project seeks to demonstrate that microstructural white matter integrity may be compromised in marijuana dependence and that this may affect neurocognitive functioning. If confirmed, these findings could increase our understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of this disorder and inform the development of potential treatments for the disorder. We hypothesize that heavier and longer term users of marijuana will have neurocognitive deficits compared to non-using subjects and these deficits will be correlated with increased white matter microstructure observed with MRI.