EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

本子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的众多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能已经从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。列出的机构是中心的，不一定是研究者的机构。这是一项试验性研究，研究对象为（N=30）名吸食大麻的年轻人（18-24岁）和不吸食大麻的对照组。该项目旨在证明大麻依赖可能会损害微观结构白质的完整性，这可能会影响神经认知功能。如果得到证实，这些发现可以增加我们对这种疾病的潜在病理生理机制的理解，并为这种疾病的潜在治疗提供信息。我们假设，与不使用大麻的受试者相比，长期重度大麻使用者会出现神经认知缺陷，而这些缺陷与MRI观察到的白质微结构增加有关。

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.