The effects of cannabis on mind-wandering.
Heliyon February 21, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e42911 via PubMed Central
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractRegular cannabis smokers who used legally purchased pre-rolls showed increased spontaneous mind-wandering and impaired task performance after cannabis use, compared to abstinent sessions. The study used a remote three-session ABA design: the first and third sessions were on abstinent days, while the second session followed cannabis use. In baseline blocks, cannabis produced a large increase in spontaneous mind-wandering, a smaller increase in deliberate mind-wandering, and worse performance on a metronome-response attention task. When participants were instructed to mind-wander either 20% or 80% of the time, cannabis reduced their ability to adjust deliberate mind-wandering and task performance accordingly, indicating impaired regulation of mind-wandering.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Within-subjects ABA design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Regular cannabis smokers |
| Duration | Three sessions; each session 30 minutes; second session immediately following cannabis use |
| Key finding | Cannabis use increased spontaneous mind-wandering and impaired regulation of deliberate mind-wandering and task performance. |
Abstract
To examine the effects of cannabis on mind-wandering, regular cannabis smokers of legally purchased pre-rolls took part in a three-session remote study. In each 30-min session participants completed three blocks of an attention task in which they pressed the spacebar in time with a metronome tone (the Metronome Response Task), and intermittently reported their levels of spontaneous and deliberate mind-wandering. Performance on the Metronome Response Task was indexed through response time variability, with greater response variability indicating poorer performance. Following an initial 'baseline' block, participants were instructed to mind-wander either 20 % or 80 % of the time in the second and third blocks (counterbalanced). Critically, the first and third sessions were scheduled on days of planned abstention while the second session immediately followed the (planned) use of cannabis (an ABA design). In the baseline blocks we found that cannabis use is associated with a large increase in spontaneous mind-wandering, a smaller increase in deliberate mind-wandering, and impaired task performance. When participants were instructed to mind-wander 20 % or 80 % of the time, cannabis use reduced instruction-related changes in deliberate mind-wandering and task performance, suggesting an impairment of the regulation of mind-wandering.