Lorenzetti Valentina, Takagi Michael, van Dalen Yvonne, Yücel Murat, Solowij Nadia
Neuroscience of Addiction and Mental Health Program, Faculty of Health Sciences, Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Child Neuropsychology Unit, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jun 17;12:663701. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.663701. eCollection 2021.
Regular cannabis users have been shown to differ from non-using controls in learning performance. It is unclear if these differences are specific to distinct domains of learning (verbal, visuospatial), exacerbate with extent of cannabis exposure and dissipate with sustained abstinence. This study examines different domains of learning (verbal, visuospatial) in current and abstaining cannabis users, and the role of chronicity of use. In a cross-sectional design, we examined 127 psychiatrically healthy participants (65 female) with mean aged of 34 years. Of these, 69 individuals were current regular cannabis users (mean 15 years use), 12 were former cannabis users abstinent for ~2.5 yrs (after a mean of 16 years use), and 46 were non-cannabis using controls. Groups were compared on verbal learning performance assessed via the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II) and for visuospatial learning measured with the Brown Location Test (BLT). We explored the association between CVLT/BLT performance and cannabis use levels in current and former users. Current cannabis use compared to non-use was associated with worse performance on select aspects of verbal learning () and of visuospatial learning ( and ). Prolonged abstinence was associated with altered verbal learning but intact visuospatial learning. There were non-significant correlations between distinct cannabis use measures, age and learning in both current and former users. Our findings suggest cannabis use status (current use, former use) affects different domains of learning (verbal and visuospatial) in a distinct fashion. These findings might be accounted for in the design of cognitive interventions aimed to support abstinence in cannabis users.
研究表明，经常吸食大麻的人与不吸食大麻的对照组在学习表现上存在差异。目前尚不清楚这些差异是否特定于不同的学习领域（语言、视觉空间），是否会随着大麻接触程度的增加而加剧，以及是否会随着持续戒断而消失。本研究考察了当前吸食大麻者和已戒断者在不同学习领域（语言、视觉空间）的情况，以及使用时长的影响。在一项横断面设计中，我们对127名精神健康的参与者（65名女性）进行了研究，他们的平均年龄为34岁。其中，69人是当前经常吸食大麻者（平均吸食15年），12人是曾经吸食大麻者，已戒断约2.5年（平均吸食16年后），46人是不吸食大麻的对照组。通过加利福尼亚语言学习测试（CVLT-II）评估语言学习表现，通过布朗位置测试（BLT）测量视觉空间学习能力，对各组进行比较。我们探讨了当前使用者和曾经使用者的CVLT/BLT表现与大麻使用水平之间的关联。与不使用大麻相比，当前吸食大麻与语言学习某些方面（）以及视觉空间学习（和）的较差表现相关。长期戒断与语言学习改变但视觉空间学习完好有关。在当前使用者和曾经使用者中，不同的大麻使用量度、年龄和学习之间均无显著相关性。我们的研究结果表明，大麻使用状态（当前使用、曾经使用）以不同方式影响不同的学习领域（语言和视觉空间）。这些发现可能为旨在支持大麻使用者戒断的认知干预设计提供依据。
