Acute effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on computational measures of neurocognitive processes are related to recent cannabis use among adolescents and young adults.
Frontiers in adolescent medicine January 1, 2025 K J Paige, A S Weigard, O Ajilore et al.
A double-blind experiment gave 30 occasional to regular cannabis users (ages 18-25) either 7.5 mg oral THC or placebo, then tested them on a Go/No Go task at peak drug effect. Overall, THC did not significantly alter cognitive efficiency, response caution, or motor response execution compared to placebo. However, THC increased between-person variability in cognitive efficiency and nondecision time, indicating heterogeneous effects. Participants with less cannabis use history showed greater weakening of cognitive efficiency (slower drift rates) under THC. Stronger subjective drug effects (feeling of drug effect and high) were also linked to poorer cognitive efficiency during intoxication. The findings suggest that tolerance to cannabis reduces the acute cognitive impairment from THC.