Keles Hasan O, Radoman Milena, Pachas Gladys N, Evins A Eden, Gilman Jodi M
Center for Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Oct 10;11:488. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00488. eCollection 2017.
Intoxication from cannabis impairs cognitive performance, in part due to the effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis) on prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. However, a relationship between impairment in cognitive functioning with THC administration and THC-induced change in hemodynamic response has not been demonstrated. We explored the feasibility of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine the functional changes of the human PFC associated with cannabis intoxication and cognitive impairment. Eighteen adult regular cannabis users (final sample, = 13) performed a working memory task (-back) during fNIRS recordings, before and after receiving a single dose of oral synthetic THC (dronabinol; 20-50 mg). Functional data were collected using a continuous-wave NIRS device, in which 8 Sources and 7 detectors were placed on the forehead, resulting in 20 channels covering PFC regions. Physiological changes and subjective intoxication measures were collected. We found a significant increase in the oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) concentration after THC administration in several channels on the PFC during both the high working memory load (2-back) and the low working memory load (0-back) condition. The increased HbO response was accompanied by a trend toward an increased number of omission errors after THC administration. The current study suggests that cannabis intoxication is associated with increases in hemodynamic blood flow to the PFC, and that this increase can be detected with fNIRS.
大麻中毒会损害认知能力，部分原因是Δ9-四氢大麻酚（THC，大麻中的主要精神活性化合物）对前额叶皮质（PFC）功能的影响。然而，THC给药导致的认知功能损害与THC引起的血流动力学反应变化之间的关系尚未得到证实。我们探讨了使用功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）来检查与大麻中毒和认知障碍相关的人类PFC功能变化的可行性。18名成年常规大麻使用者（最终样本，n = 13）在接受单剂量口服合成THC（屈大麻酚；20 - 50 mg）之前和之后，在fNIRS记录期间执行了一个工作记忆任务（n-back）。使用连续波NIRS设备收集功能数据，其中8个光源和7个探测器放置在前额上，从而形成覆盖PFC区域的20个通道。收集了生理变化和主观中毒测量数据。我们发现，在高工作记忆负荷（2-back）和低工作记忆负荷（0-back）条件下，THC给药后PFC上几个通道的氧合血红蛋白（HbO）浓度显著增加。HbO反应增加的同时，THC给药后漏报错误数量有增加的趋势。当前研究表明，大麻中毒与PFC的血流动力学血流量增加有关，并且这种增加可以用fNIRS检测到。
